The two sides of the moon
by don'tcallmeLeeLee
Summary: Post BD. When Leah goes to college, the least thing she imagines is that she'll fall in love with the boy she hates the most. And what happen when that boy is a werewolf... a real one?
1. Prologue

**This is my first story! I know this is a short chapter but I promise the following ones will be longer.**

**I hope you enjoy it! Next chapter is coming soon in Leah's POV.**

**EDIT: This chapter has been corrected by 2 amazing Betas from Project Team Beta. Check them out here: h t t p : / / www . projectteambeta . com/ (delete the spaces). And also I have a pre-reader, Vix, who did an amazing job! Thanks a lot!**

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**Prologue**

Their scent was stronger here. I'd finally found them. It had taken me weeks, or maybe months, to find it again, but I was finally going to face them. After the storm had passed, I'd spent almost three days sniffing every inch of this forest. Now I was going to start my revenge. My people's revenge.

I was running through this unknown forest following their horrible smell. I didn't know where it was going to take me, but my feet and my mind wouldn't allow me stop and think of what I would do when I finally faced them. All I wanted was to have them in front of me and kill them with my bare hands. Just the thought of that made my heart beat faster than it had ever done before. I could imagine my victory, the panic in their faces. I could hear them crying for mercy, begging to be killed faster, to put them out of their misery. In my head I could picture their torture to be slow and painful, suffering for each and every day my people had suffered. Little by little, paying for every life they'd taken.

Everything passed my eyes in a blur. I could hear the woodland creatures escaping at the sound of my steps, scared of the predator I was. Scared of death. But they were safe. Today, the only creatures I was going to kill were those bloodsuckers.

The feeling of the wind against my face distracted me for a moment from my plans of revenge. It relaxed me like it always has and I felt like I was flying. It made me forget all my problems, my secrets. Forget that just for a couple of minutes, I was a part of this world that was full of darkness and death. It wasn't a secret that I've always hated what I was; something living in between right and wrong. Life and death... But I've grown to accept it and do whatever was needed to survive in this world where even us, the _monsters_, needed to be strong to stay alive. Running was a way of life for us. There was no one in this world that enjoyed running more than we did. My family and I did it for fun; after escaping our whole lives from death, this became our favorite hobby. Ever since we were children, my family and I enjoyed the speed we were 'blessed' with. Playing games, competing to see who was the fastest, having fun, feeling free. But running took a different meaning after _they_ appeared a long time ago. Now our philosophy was: if you were fast enough, you could escape from death; if you weren't that lucky, then death was your destiny.

I shook my head trying to forget all those memories of us playing in the sun, enjoying the freedom, and laughing. They were just memories. The past. Something that might never happen again, something our children will never have the chance to see... unless I kill _them_.

I needed to focus on my mission, to find those damn leeches, and enjoy killing them. Only then would I be able to live in peace. My people will be able to find the peace we'd lost some centuries ago. The freedom _they _took away. Them! I could feel how my blood started to boil again at the thought of how it all started. All of this was their fault. Stupid leeches! If they had never set eyes on-

My thoughts were interrupted by the most intoxicating scent I've ever smelt… a mixture of roses, earth after a rainy day and vanilla. My favorite scents in the world. It was driving me crazy, making me feel dizzy. I followed it to discover the thing I've desired more than any other over the centuries. The intoxicating scent ended at the edge of a cliff, and there I was when I first saw her. The tall, dark-haired woman reminded me of the tales of goddesses Grandpa told us when we were younger.

I approached her slowly trying not to scare her, and when I was near enough to see her, I lost my breath; she took it away from me. She was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen and her scent, her scent sent shivers throughout my body. But what hypnotized me the most were those big brown eyes; they were beautiful, their color even darker than the night, just breathtaking. They looked so sad; it reminded me of someone I knew too well. Me.

I couldn't take my eyes away from her. Every part of my body was begging me to hug her, touch her, and feel her. I wanted to be next to her, but I might scare her, and if that ever happened, I didn't know what I'd do. My appearance wasn't the best to introduce myself to that beautiful woman. I was all sweaty from running for more than a week. My clothes were all dirty, my hair was a mess. There was a big tree, so I hid behind it. It was a good distance away, I could watch her figure, her eyes, her lips, and those long legs easily.

Who was she? What was she doing here? I wanted to know everything about her. Her name, her favorite song, her favorite day. I wanted to know it all. I was sure I was going to love each and every part of her.

Suddenly, she turned her back to me and faced the sea. What was she going to do? Was she going to jump? I couldn't help but wonder what she was doing. Please turn back! I shouted in my head.

I closed my eyes for a moment. I wasn't a religious man, but I was praying to every God present at the moment to make her come to me. When I opened my eyes she wasn't there anymore.

NO!

She'd jumped. Without thinking twice, I ran and jumped in behind her. I plunged into the dark water looking for the beautiful girl that had stolen my heart. I swam deeper and deeper, fighting against the current, until I found her. Her eyes were still open like she was waiting for someone and when she saw me, she smiled, and then her eyes started to close. I grabbed her by her waist and swam to the surface.

It was almost impossible to swim back to the shore. The current was too strong, carrying her and trying to swim was almost unbearable. I started to advance when a huge wave crashed into us and I lost my hold on her.

Shit! I've found the girl of my dreams and I was about to drown her?

I immersed myself back in the water and held her tightly pressing her against my chest. Feeling her hot body against mine was all I needed to recover my strength and keep swimming to the shore. I swam as hard as I could against the rough sea and I finally managed to reach the shore; I laid her down and looked at her. Up close, she was even more beautiful. As I moved a lock of her hair that was hiding her beautiful face.

"Can you hear me?" I asked her, shaking her lightly to wake her up. She might have been unconscious because her eyes stayed shut. She was breathing and her pulse was normal. She had only blacked out. She was still alive, for my own sake.

I was so lost in her beauty, I didn't even see that someone was coming our way.

"Leah? LEAH?" A dark brown haired boy came running to the girl. "LEAH?" He shouted. His expression turned panicked when he locked his eyes on the body of the gorgeous woman. He kneeled down next to her, and shook her lightly as I had a moment ago. The girl, Leah, was perfectly still, her eyes closed.

Who was this guy? Was he her mate? I didn't want to think that her heart might belong to another man. I was sure that such a pretty girl like her couldn't be alone. You would have to be blind or really stupid to let a girl like this be alone.

"Can you hear me Leah?" The boy started sobbing. "What's happened?" He looked at me but immediately turned to her without letting me explain what happened to her. "What did you do, Leah? Hold on, please. I'm calling Carlisle." He took his cell phone and started talking to someone. "It's Leah, I think she's unconscious... I think she was drowning and some guy took her out of the water... Okay, please hurry up, Carlisle... I can't lose her..." He finished.

I couldn't stop looking at her. She was everything I wanted now. I wanted to hold her and protect her, but she already had a mate. She belonged to someone, and this guy must love her a lot, his words kept repeating in my mind: "I can't lose her." They were full of love and pain.

I couldn't lose her either, but she wasn't mine, she had her partner. What was I still doing here? I stood up and ran back home, leaving the beautiful Native American girl behind.

She will never be mine in reality, but I could dream with her every night… and my every dream will be about her… Leah... beautiful Leah...

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**My first language is Spanish, so if you could please review or PM me if you find any mistakes, you would be helping me improve. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 1

**EDIT****: I wanted to thank Vix, for being an amazing pre-reader, and my two lovely Betas from PTB: ****beautiful. nightmare.****x and BelleDean. If you are looking for a Beta go to Project Team Beta.**

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**Chapter 1: Meeting the Cullens.**

**LEAH'S POV**

_Go to the Cullens' house!_ That was it! No explanation as to why, not even a 'please,' or 'we have to talk about pack stuff.' Nothing. Just a simple command and here we were, all four of us were running to their house. I didn't know why he was making us go there for, there was nothing threatening his 'girl.' I was more than sure of that; he got us checking the perimeter for days after the Vampire Convention was over. The Euro-mafia vamps were gone, so why on earth did we have to go to the bloodsuckers' house? I hoped it wasn't to join them for their teatime. We hadn't mutated into wolves just to be the only humans they could invite for tea without the need of us becoming their meal.

The Cullens… damn leeches! They were trouble. Since they'd arrived to these lands, all we got were mutations, a crazy leech hunting Bella, more mutations, another leech trying to kill Bella, a war, Bella getting pregnant, the separation of the packs, more mutations, some royal vampires wanting to kill everyone… oh, and a mutant baby… It was really weird that no one had written a novel or something about us yet; with all these things going on here, someone could write a book, maybe even four, and become a famous writer. Everything was so much easier before they got here. When we didn't know about vampires and werewolves. Who knew what other supernatural creatures there were around the world.

Not everything was bad about the Cullens though. _They brought some action to our lives, a world we only knew from stories, books and movies, and we could experience it now._ That was how my pack brothers justified the 'blessing' of becoming a shape-shifter. My case was totally different. All I received from this supernatural world was pain, heartbreak and losing some of the most important things in my life: love, friendship, humanity, family… those were some of the things I loved the most about my life. All those and my father… everything was lost because of this life we were chosen for…

Back to the point, there was one cool thing the vampy-family did for us; they taught us how to kill leeches. There weren't any at the moment, apart from them of course, but they were untouchable. A pity, I know. And the other reason why I kind of 'admired' them (keywords: kind of) was because of their loyalty. Though I disliked them, even hated some of them, the Cullens were our allies, and as hard as it was to admit this, I was certain that if there ever were a new threat to come to attack us wolves, they wouldn't hesitate to fight next to us. Of course I would deny it, but there were a couple of things I liked about them.

The wind crashing against my fur made me go back to the present, were I was going to spend the next minutes in a house full of leeches I disliked. I had my suspicions that Jacob was trying, _again_, to make us bond with the Cullens. You see, since he had imprinted on the Loch-Ness monster, Jake was trying to make our pack befriend the vampires by inventing excuses like emergency patrols or pack meetings near their house. What part of us being mortal enemies didn't he understand? I didn't know. It was a simple concept: we were shape-shifters, they were vampires. We killed them, they died. For God's sake! It was simple! But no, Jacob needed to rebel against every rule. First, he managed to tell a human about our secret, then he separated from Sam's pack, and he imprinted on a half-vampire! Everything that was planned to go one way, he managed to rebel against it and make it his way. And joining the pack and the Cullens was his latest mission, 'because vampires weren't so bad'. Not bad my ass! Every time we'd been with them, we were in danger. Stupid bloodsuckers! Not only did they smell, but they also had those freaking powers!

_Leah, stop calling the Cullens "bloodsuckers". And they're not stupid, they're really cool people._And there was my brother. The dweeb had to stand up for the Cullens because, I didn't remember if I'd told you this, but my baby brother was the new president of the B.F.C.: Bloodsucker Fan Club -he used to be vice-president because Bella was the president, but now she was also a leech, so he had been promoted to president.

_Whatever, Seth... _I didn't want to fight with him; I wasn't pissed off at him. It was all Jacob freaking Black's fault for imprinting on that spawn!

_Hey, watch what you say about Jake! He's the coolest Alpha I've known, so don't call him stupid!_ Right! I'd forgotten to mention that Seth was also the president of the Jacob Black Fan Club.

_Guys, are you there yet? _The bastard interrupted us. Sorry, Embry. It'd been only a couple of weeks since we'd created this new pack, and I was trying to be nice to them now that we were only five, and their thoughts weren't always of 'how much I love my imprint.' Quil and Jake were the members who imprinted in this new pack, and as their imprintees were still babies their thoughts were pure and innocent, not like Paul and his 24/7 thoughts of sex, it was like watching free porn and the worst was that he thought he was _that_ good. Though, I was trying to be nicer, my bitchiness was always going to be part of me. If I wanted to survive in this world, I had to be tough and not the idiotic moron I was before when I thought Sam was a god who I should worship. The truth was that since we split from the original pack, I'd been happier than I'd been in a long time. Now that I wasn't in Sam's head, listening to how wonderful Emily was, how amazing her muffins were, blah, blah, blah... my mood was better, but I was still the bitch, the harpy, and I wasn't sure if I would ever change that.

_Leah, you are now in your third level of bitchiness. You are improving, baby. _Embry said in a mocking tone. Stupid mental connection with stupid boys. You try to bend ice but for what? For some stupid morons to mock you?

_Hey, Embry! How's your daddy? Have you found out who he is yet?_

_Bitch!_

_Bastard!_

_Guys, just leave the argument for later. We are already here__, _Quil informed us.

We were still meters away from the house, but the stench of leech was already all over the place. I went behind a bush to phase and got dressed. I put on my underwear and bra, and dress up with the pair of shorts and the T-shirt I had tied on my leg. I got out and saw the three boys waiting for me.

"Look who has finally decided to join us! What took you so long?" Quil asked.

I hated this. The guys had no problem in changing into their clothes, they just put on a pair of shorts or cut offs and they were done. They didn't even bother wearing a shirt or underwear, so they had it easy when changing back to human form. I, on the other hand, had to put on my panties and bra and then the clothes.

"Well I'm here now, right? Let's get this over with. Come on!" We walked towards the crypt, my nickname for the leeches' house. Speaking about crypts, I wondered if they slept in coffins or had skeletons in their closets. Note to self: made an excuse to use the bathroom and go check out the other rooms in the house. While I was thinking this, I heard someone laughing. Shit! Mind-rapist could hear my thoughts! I quickly thought about something to annoy him.

_How do you feel knowing that in six years your daughter and my dear Alpha, Jacob, the guy that tried to steal your Bella once, are going to be together doing naughty things? _That one was good! As soon as that escaped my mind I heard a loud growl. _Take that leech! If you don't want to hear more, then don't read my mind! And now that you know we are here, open the door._

As soon as we were in front of the door, Edward opened it and let us in. God, this place was even worst than the outside. The stench was so strong it was burning my eyes. Why did they have to smell like cheap cologne?

"Good morning Seth, Embry, Quil! Oh, and nice to see you too, Leah. You are always welcome here because you always bring a breath of fresh air to the place." Edward smirked.

_Ha-ha, very funny__, bloodsucker. If you're trying to insult me don't do it in a polite way! You don't need to be so-_

"So gentlemanly?" Ugh! I hated this guy!

He chuckled and led us to the living room where the rest of the leeches were. The patriarch was sitting on the armchair, his mate sitting on his lap. The two other male vampires (the blond one and the big one) were standing behind the sofa where their mates (Blondie and Pixie) were sitting, the four of them watching Bella and Renesmee who were sitting on the floor playing dolls… with… Oh. My. God! Jacob Black, the real Alpha of La Push, was playing dolls with a princess crown and a tutu! This was too much! I turned around, shared a look with Embry and then we started laughing. I couldn't help it, seeing your Alpha, a huge guy playing dolls with a two-year-old girl in a crown and a tutu was priceless. Oh boy, I wished I had brought my camera! Well, it didn't matter. From now on, patrols with him were going to be so much fun!

Five minutes later, and I couldn't stop laughing. Who would have thought coming to the crypt was going to be so much fun? Embry and I were still on the floor laughing so hard that we had tears rolling down our faces. Quil, on the other hand, was used to receiving the same treatment by Claire so he didn't join us, and Seth was used to seeing Jake playing with the girl, so he didn't find it funny either.

When we chilled out a little, we stood up and saw the blond psycho leech and the big one laughing as hard as we were, both holding their stomachs… what was their problem?

"He can feel your emotions, and Emmett, well… he didn't want to be left out of the joke." Eddie-boy answered me.

Okay, _that_was creepy! He felt everyone's emotions? If I was sad, he would feel it too?

"Yes, he would." _Eddie you're starting to annoy me._

He chuckled. "Sorry, I didn't want to bother you, and please stop calling me Eddie."

_Y__ou don't like 'Eddie', Eddie? Why does it bother you, Eddie? Eddie is-_

"Please stop it!" he said through gritted teeth.

I was going to start again but was cut off by Jake, who had just realized we were there. Another reason I hated imprinting: the guys couldn't stop thinking about the imprintees. We could be in the middle of an earthquake but he wouldn't notice. It was so annoying!

"Leah, you came!" I rolled my eyes. _Yes, Jake. You used your Alpha tone but yeah I decided to come and say 'hi._' Edward sat next to Bella and started to chuckle again. And that was when I realized that all of them were looking at me. This was awkward! Edward chuckled some more.

"Hey Edward, what is so funny? I want to know too!" The big one said. Man, was he on steroids or something? He was HUGE! Even bigger than Paul and Paul was the biggest and fattest of all of us. That thought made Edward laugh harder, so hard that if he were human he would have died of lack of air. He tried hiding it behind his hand, but he couldn't. When he finally managed to stop everyone was looking at him like he was crazy.

"I'm sorry, Leah is very funny. I couldn't help it." He cleared his throat. "She was wondering if Emmett is on steroids or something because she thinks he's huge." My eyes widened.

_Thank you very much__, bloodsucker! If that tank decides to kill me, you'll be the cause of a war because my brothers will kill you._

And then it happened… the big one started laughing as well as the others. Bella was trying to hide her laugh behind her hand unsuccessfully; even the doctor and his wife were laughing. _Great! Now I'm some kind of clown to the leeches. Just what I was looking for! Now I can die in peace knowing I amuse them._

The first one to talk after they all stopped laughing was the patriarch. "Well, Miss Clearwater, feel welcome in our house. I don't think it's necessary to say you are welcome here any time you wish. Please, take a seat." Dr. Dracula gestured us to sit on the empty couch. Seth was already on the floor talking to Jacob and Renesmee; he already knew them all and spent most of his days with the Cullens. Embry, Quil and I on the other hand weren't very comfortable with them. Quil came here once or twice, and Embry came often just to be with Seth and Jake. Embry started getting along with the leeches although he wasn't comfortable yet. Quil didn't hate the Cullens much but never felt good around them either. But I, I've never set a foot in here, ever. Well there was this one time when Bella was pregnant and I kind of had a conversation with her… okay – I yelled at her. But since last month, after the Mafia-leeches had left, I haven't come near this house again. Of course I'd have to patrol near it, but never came inside.

Everyone was watching me _again_. Maybe they were expecting me to start shouting or something? The blond male, Casper I think, was staring at me with a murderous look. I swear if looks could kill I would have been dead a long time ago.

"Don't worry, he's just reading your emotions, making sure you don't have any bad intentions; and it's Jasper. I thought you already knew them all. Well, over there is Carlisle and Esme," Edward said pointing to Dr Dracula and the leech mother who waved politely, "then Alice and Jasper, and Emmett and Rosalie." He pointed to the Future-Teller, the Blond-Psycho, the Tank and Blondie. "And you already know Renesmee and Bella," he said looking to Bella with loving eyes.

_Ugh! Could someone please stab my eyes? I swear I'm going to puke._

Eddie and Bella were holding hands and looking into each other's eyes with pure adoration. HHe then gave her his trademark crooked smile.

_Go get a room__!_ I shouted in my mind, desperately trying to separate them, and it worked because Eddie moved away a little and Bella looked upset. Just one word: disgusting!

We were sitting in silence, staring at each other. Well basically all of them were watching me. _Should I ask if they know something about the Volteris?_

"It's Volturi, Leah. And Alice hasn't seen anything strange. They are back in Italy." Yeah, Eddie had to correct me. He and his freaking gift could go-

"It's not my fault. I really don't like it either. Being able to read other people's minds, especially Emmett's is something disgusting."

"Hey! You say it's disgusting now, but I know you used some of my positions on Bella," he said wiggling his eyebrows. "So you're welcome!" Edward and Bella looked to the floor and I swear that if leeches could blush they would have been red.

I felt someone touching my hair. I turned to my left and almost jumped out of my seat. Sitting next to me was Pixie. She was looking at me with a huge smile and big eyes. It was really scary. How the hell did she get here next to me?

"You know you have really nice skin, Leah? And your hair is very smooth!" she assured while touching my hair. Didn't she know what personal space means?

"You should cut it a little bit and add some highlights. And for your face you should start using some creams to keep it smooth. Oh! I have clothes that would really look good on you, and I can do your nails and maybe some make-"

"Stop," I said.

Why the hell was she talking to me about this? Like I cared about my appearance! I spent most of my time as a wolf and when I got dressed I didn't need to have my nails painted or my hair nice. I didn't have anybody to hang out with, or any guy waiting to go on a date with me. I wasn't like the imprintees that always looked pretty in the boys' eyes. Hell, they could be wearing a chicken costume and the guys would go goo and gaga for them. Clothes! _I don't want your charity, bloodsucker. I don't want your label clothes or any-_

"Leah, Alice just wants to give you clothes, because Jake told us-" _Jake what?_ "Um, we know that sometimes when you phase you rip yours into shreds. It's not for charity. It's to thank you for the hours you've spent outside on patrol, and Jake told us that you needed some."

"Leah, you know you need clothes, and Alice has plenty. The other day you were complaining about not being feminine enough and that you needed new clothes. I told you to come today so they could change you."

What?

"Leah, I can make you look prettier and I really want to be your friend. You also need a make ov-"

"I. Don't. Care!" I cut Pixie off immediately. "You told them about my problems! That's why you made us come here, Jacob? And why the hell are you telling her about my things?" I shouted at him.

"When I came here the other day, Nessie saw I was tired, because you were talking about that all the time, so I told her about our conversation. Alice overheard and they immediately told me to bring you here. They wanted something fun to do. Alice said she hadn't done a makeover in a long time and that she had no one to try new products on. And then Nessie pleaded with me to bring you here. She was very excited with the idea of playing with you and giving you a makeover. I couldn't help but do this. Nessie really wanted to play with you. So I made you all come here under the pretense we needed more time together, but really it was only for you to have your make over."

_Oh no! He didn't say that, right? For his own good, and for all the Black's future generations to exist, it was better if he hadn't said that!_

I stood there watching the guy I've respected and followed saying all these things. Why was he doing this to me? Didn't he want to spend time with us? And _Nessie_pleaded him to do this? It was obvious he just wanted Nessie to be happy. He didn't want to spend time with his brothers or you. It was always what the imprintee wanted.

"Leah-"

"Wait, Jacob! Leah, of course he cares about you. You're his sister, his Beta. He needs you." Then Edward started telling Jake what I was thinking.

I just stared at him. Jake was there when I needed someone. We'd become really close friends before Renesmee was born, and we trusted and understood each other. But now, he wanted his happy life to be completely perfect, and if in the process of creating this happy life he had to make me be the doll of his imprintee and his new family, he wouldn't care. He'd just demand I sit like a good puppy and do what they wanted me to do. I'd have done anything for him, except be some leeches' experiment. How humiliating!

"No, Leah. It's not like that," Jake started saying after Edward told him what I was thinking.

"Jake, what's going on?" Embry asked angrily.

"Come on, man! You made us come here to spend time with us or just to make your new family happy?" Quil asked furious.

"Jake?" Seth stood up from the floor where he was playing with Nessie and came running to wrap me in his arms but I glared at him. I didn't need his pity.

"Seriously? You did it for her?" Embry said pointing to Renesmee. "I can't believe it! We joined you because we thought you were different, but you are just like Sam. We trusted you and all you did was use us! You put these bloods- _them_ before your own blood. We don't deserve this. Leah is your beta, your sister. She doesn't deserve this. I know sometimes she's a bitch but this is bullshit, Jake. Bullshit! I wonder if the old Jake would have done this."

I was surprised that the shiest guy in the pack had so much to say. He came closer to me and gave me a small smile. I looked up to see Jake's face before leaving; he looked shocked and sad. But I didn't care.

"Come on, let's go home," Seth said.

Once outside we ran to the woods and phased to go back home.

Running with the pack through the forest used to be enjoyable. Today that was not the case. We ran quietly, playing in our mind images of all the things Embry said, about Jake's face afterwards, about my reaction. Did I really react like that? Just standing watching Jacob without defending myself? What the hell happened to me? I'm never one to stay quiet. And all that in front of the leeches!

I know it was stupid, and I shouldn't have made such a drama about it. We had Bella who loved making dramatic scenes for everything, but I really felt humiliated by Jacob. First he told the leeches all the things I entrusted to him, and Nessie pleaded him to bring me there? What the hell? Where was the boy who told me he hated imprinting? Where was he?

And now they were probably sitting there in their perfect mansion, with their manicured lawn, and their nice furniture, enjoying their perfect life while laughing about the stupid bitch… I was pathetic!

_Leah, are you __okay?_ Seth asked cautiously, not to make me feel worse.

_I'm fine. __Why wouldn't I be fine? I don't know why you all made such a drama about it… but thank you. _I really didn't deserve that support they showed me today.

_Leah__, don't be silly, you're our sister and we love you in our own way. I know that we are always fighting but I really care about you. _Embry said. He was always the quiet boy, but today his words… he surprised us all. I'd never imagined he would give such a speech to defend me.

_There are lots of things you don't know about me, Leah._

_God Embry! It's my sister you're talking to._

_Em, shut up! I don't want to know anything about you in that way either! I never imagined Jake would do that, dude! He kind of used us too. We had nothing to do with this, Leah. You know that, right? If I knew it I wouldn't have participated. I hate Jake for doing this to you__, _Quil thought.

_Yeah, I hate him too__, _Embry added.

_Me too,_ Seth said in a disappointed tone.

_Don't be idiots! Jacob's been your friend since you were kids. It's just the imprinting that ruins the guys' brains, no offense Quil, but it does. Don't feel like that about him._

_Wow! This is weird you being nice and protecting Jake after all that happened__, Leah. You really have a heart. And you're not a bitchy witch. _Quil thought and immediately tried to apologize. _I'm sorry, Leah. I didn't mean to think that. I'm sorry._

_Ugh! __Shut up, Quil!_

Of course I had a heart. I wasn't that insensitive like everybody thought.

I phased back. I didn't want the guys to feel pity for me. Thankfully, I was near home. I went behind a tree and put my clothes back on. As soon as I got in the house, I ran upstairs to my room. I flung the door shut behind me, threw myself onto my bed, and cried until I fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

**EDIT****: I wanted to thank Vix, for pre-reading the chapter. And my two lovely Betas from PTB: ********remylebeauishot**** and jenniemae2013, who gave me some awesome feedback and made this chapter look nice****. If you are looking for a Beta go to Project Team Beta.**

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**Chapter 2: Bonding with the boys.**

I woke up to the sound of clanking and the smell of smoke. I jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs to the kitchen where the smell was coming from. When I entered the kitchen, I was able to see through the haze, thanks to my wolf sight. This was one of those times that I wish I couldn't see so well. The kitchen was… how to describe it? There was tomato sauce splashed on the walls, and a bowl filled with what looked like pancake mix was overturned on the floor. Pots, pans and saucepans were all over the kitchen, and one of them had something blueish in it. In between all that mess, there were three Quileute boys covered in flour, sauce and that blueish mix.

From the outside looking in, the scene was pretty funny. Watching how the three boys were trying to stop the blueish sauce from falling all over the floor and failing, of course, was going to be hard to forget.

I was enjoying watching them so much that I didn't notice something was hanging on the ceiling just above me until I felt it over my left shoulder. I looked up and there was something _brown _hanging from the ceiling hanging from the ceiling. Well, at least it was until it fell directly on my face.

"What the hell? What happened?" I yelled while cleaning my face. Embry, Quil and Seth turned around and smiled sheepishly.

"Hey, Leah!" they all greeted me.

"What the hell happened here?" I repeated, my mood starting to take control of me.

"Um... we wanted to make some food so that when you woke up you could eat... but... well, we left a minute to, um, play a little on the video games and well... when we came back... it, um… it started to burn, and uh..." Seth stopped after seeing my glare.

I was losing my patience now. "When you cook, you can't go to 'play a little.' You have to watch the food until it's done!"

"Okay, Leah, chill out a bit!" Embry tried to calm me when he noticed there was a knife near me. "Why are you so mad that we burned the food?"

"Why am I mad? You want to know why, Embry? I'm mad because now I have to clean this whole mess you three morons made!"

I started throwing all the burned food into the trashcan, muttering about how stupid they were, that I had more important things to do than cleaning the mess they made.

"Don't worry, Leah. We made the mess, we'll clean it." Quil smiled as he took the pan out of my hands, pushed me away. They started cleaning their mess.

A few minutes later, the kitchen was clean and looked like new.

"We did a good job!" Quil said while he, Seth and Embry high-fived each other, and after that, their stomachs growled. I laughed at the sound of that. They turned to look at me with mischievous smiles on their faces.

"Leah, can you make us something to eat?" Seth asked, looking at me with puppy dog eyes. He knew I couldn't resist that.

"Leah, make us something, _please_," Quil begged with a baby voice. I'm sure he learned that from Claire.

"We would make something, but you know what happened before," Embry added.

Damn! He was right. If I let them do something again, they would burn down the house.

"Okay. What do you want to eat?" I sighed.

"Pasta!" they said in unison while running into the living room, where they started playing a video game.

Pasta was one of my favorite dishes… Sam's too. It was one of the only dishes I could make and not burn. Cooking wasn't something I was born to do. In fact, I tried to avoid it as much as I could. It was the first thing I cooked for Sam the day he asked me out. I was at his house because we had to prepare a project for school together and he invited me over. His mom wasn't at home and he was hungry, so I offered to cook for him. Without a clue what to do, I started mixing random ingredients together, and it turned out to be a very tasty dish. While I was cooking, he found ways to touch my hand accidentally when he passed me something. It was so cute. He was so shy, and when he looked at me he had a look of adoration in his eyes and... Enough! It was over!

"Leah, what's wrong?" Seth's voice came from next to me. "Leah, what's wrong?" Seth wrapped me up in a hug. "Talk to me. Please."

"It's the onion…" I lied. "It's making me dizzy."

"Leah, I may be younger than you, but I'm not stupid."

I answered honestly, "I feel lonely, okay?" Quil and Embry walked to the kitchen at that precise moment. Shit! They had a look of pity look on their faces.

"You want to talk about it?" Seth asked nicely.

"Hell no, Seth! Nothing ever happened here, got it? And if anyone breathes a word about what I said, you can forget about becoming a father! Now go set the table while I finish cooking!" They nodded and began taking plates and glasses from the cupboard.

Ten minutes later, the pasta was done and we started eating. It was strange, but since my confession, the guys seemed to feel like sharing stuff. I almost choked on my meatball when Quil confessed he didn't know what to do about losing his virginity and whether or not to wait for Claire. Embry, taking his turn to share, informed us that he'd like to know who his father was. They were trying to make me feel comfortable by confessing secrets of their own, but the more they talked the more uncomfortable I was.

After an awkward conversation about sex and biological possible fathers for Embry, we decided to go watch a movie to avoid any new uncomfortable themes.

The movie they chose was about werewolves, as if we didn't have enough wolves in our lives already! The way these boys' minds worked was strange, to say the least.

"That was so cool. Did you like it?" Seth asked when the movie had finished.

"Yeah dude, that was amazing. Did you see their strength and speed?" Quil said.

"Yeah, but we are better than werewolves for sure." Embry had to boast that he was better than the rest.

"Guys, you know this is just a movie, right?" I asked them, getting up from the couch.

"We know, but remember what the Volturi said? There are Children of the Moon. Wouldn't it be cool to meet one?" Seth announced excitedly.

"That would be awesome! Do you think there are also female werewolves?" Embry asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Man, they might be ugly! Did you see them in the movie? They were hairy and kind of masculine," Quil said. "Look at Leah. She's like us and she isn't a werewolf. Imagine a real female werewolf," he whispered. As if I couldn't hear him.

"You know I can hear you, right?" Note to self: Make patrol for Quil a living hell next time.

Who was I trying to kid? He was right. I was like one of the guys. I dressed like them, talked like them, even ate like them... maybe I was a guy in a chick's body!

A mental picture of me with an enormous chicken leg in one hand and a hamburger in the other popped into my head.

What was I talking about? I was a woman! I shook my head.

I was lucky I was at home, because if I were near the Privacy Invader, he would have had a field day. Great, now I was thinking about the bloodsuckers and the incident. I hoped Jacob stupid Black never came back. Why? Because I hated him! He was just a stupid, good for nothing, son of a…

"Leah, are you okay?" Seth asked worriedly, bringing me back from Leah-Land.

"Where are Embry and Quil?" I asked, looking around for them.

"They just went home. We'll hang out again tomorrow."

"Oh."

"Leah, I'm going to bed. Do you need something before I go to sleep? You know I'm here, right? If you need anything... to talk or… well, I better go to bed."

I was a terrible sister. My little brother was the one that took care of me when it should have been the other way around.

"Seth, wait! Thanks. You don't have to be like a protective older brother to me, you know? Fuck! That's my job. I should be the one worrying about you. You're only fifteen, Seth! You should be studying and hanging out with friends, dating girls and having fun!" I sighed. "I want to be there for you, too. I know I'm a bitch most of the time, but we are siblings! I'm the worst, most self-centered sister in the world, but always remember that I'm always here for you." He looked at me and hugged me.

I pushed him away slightly. I loved him, but hugging wasn't my style.

The next morning, I woke up to someone knocking on the door. I hoped it was someone saying we won a million dollars, because if not, I was going to rip their head off for waking me up at… ten in the morning! Ten in the fucking morning? It better be something good. Really, really good.

I went downstairs, opened the door, and standing in front of me was none other than Jacob Black.

"What are you doing here?" I didn't even bother to say "hi" or look at him.

"Leah, I'm sorry... I didn't mean what I said yesterday. I wanted to help you and, yeah, I'm stupid. You can call me whatever you want. I deserve it. I've been stupid. I'm sorry."

Suddenly, Seth came downstairs looking furious. "What the hell are you doing here, Jacob?" I knew he was angry, because Seth had never called him Jacob before. "Get the hell out of my house! You're not welcome here anymore."

"Seth, I came to apologize. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry. Using you guys was low. I feel like an idiot."

"You are. You used us, Jacob! You fucking used us to please your new family. You wanted my sister to be a doll to the Cullens. What the hell were you thinking? If I ever see you around my sister again, I'll kill you. You've insulted us and our whole family. Now get lost." Yes, he was definitely pissed off.

Seth and Jake glared at one another, and if they did it any harder, I think laser beams would have shot out of their eyes.

"Look, guys, I think you should relax or go outside, I don't want two wolves in my house." That seemed to relax them a little, but they kept staring at each other.

"Leah, I'm sorry! Can you please forgive me? I've been stupid. Guys, I'm sorry!" Jake cried to Embry and Quil who were just arriving at the house.

"What's going on?" Quil asked.

"Please guys, you have to believe me... after you left me... I haven't eaten or slept. All I've done is think about everything you said. I feel like crap." He put his hands on his face.

"Jacob, you promised you would never use your Alpha tone on us, but yesterday you broke that promise. I know you want to be cool with the Cullens because Renesmee's your imprint, but Jacob, you used us. You only did what you did because Renesmee asked you to. You were going to leave us once, and we let it pass, but yesterday you showed us that your number one priority is to make Renesmee happy. We're just your marionettes that you use when there's a war or a danger to the leeches. When you need us, we're there risking our lives for you, but then you throw us away. What would happen when one of us needs you? Would you risk your life for us, Jacob? Would you?" Embry said.

Jacob stayed silent.

"Get the hell out of here, Jacob," Seth said.

Jacob sighed sadly, but left the house and ran to the bushes and phased.

We stayed there staring at the bushes for what seemed like hours. Did I do the right thing by not forgiving him? Yes, he was an asshole, but he did genuinely seem sorry.

"Leah, we did the right thing. He doesn't deserve us," Seth said sadly.

A sad, solemn howl came from the forest and drifted over all of La Push.


	4. Chapter 3

**Thanks to Vix, for pre-reading this chapter and my two lovely Betas from PTB: beautiful. nightmare.x and Lulu M.**

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**Chapter 3: Preparing a three-year-old party?**

Days went by but I didn't do much. The guys and I decided not to phase for a while so we weren't connected to Jacob. This meant most of the time I stayed with the rest of the pack at home, where we ate and watched TV. Or watched TV and then ate. Nothing interesting happened. I was like one of those fat guys that spend their entire day watching re-runs of their favorite TV shows with a slice of pizza in their hands, but I didn't have the fat beer belly, luckily. I couldn't help but imagine myself phasing into a giant wolf with a tummy that touched the floor.

Jacob continued trying to apologize. He came to the house twice. The first time, I was the one who opened the door and asked him politely if he could go to hell, and the second time, Seth opened it and then slammed the door on his face. Jake got the hint and stopped trying to come over, but he found another way to bug me…he started calling.

I was having a bath, and he called. I was eating, and he called. I was sleeping, and he called. I got so sick of him calling every five minutes that I disconnected the phone, but just my luck he started calling me on my cell phone. Jacob Black was becoming a real pain in the ass for the Clearwater's, even Mom was tired of him.

Today we were going to go to Claire's house. She was coming back from the Makah Res where she had spent two weeks with her grandparents. As you can imagine, Quil was more than excited. He even looked like Pixie during the sales, not that I knew how she reacted, but I could picture her all hyper running from one shop to the other. He was so eager to spend time with her, that he had invited us to join him in his exciting afternoon of playing with dolls and having tea parties with Claire.

YAY! You could see how happy I was... not! If Claire wasn't the only imprintee that I liked, I wouldn't have bothered joining Quil, and I would have stayed at home watching re-runs.

When we arrived at Claire's house, she opened the door and started jumping with happiness when she saw Quil. She ran to him and hugged him and he started to spin her around. When he stopped and she was with her feet on the floor, she came running to me.

"Leah! Leah! You came!" I bent down to her level and hugged her. "I'm happy you're here, Auntie Leah!" Quil told me that when he told Claire I was coming, she was overjoyed which was weird because I've never shown the little girl much attention like the rest of the girls did.

"Well, Claire-bear, I'm happy to see you too. Now look at you! You're so tall. What have you been eating to make you so big and strong?"

She started giggling. "Auntie Leah, I'm not taller like you. You play with me?"

"Sure..." Great! Now I was stuck. Well, Quil was going to do the embarrassing things for me.

Claire then ran to her room to grab her dolls and toys.

"Hello, boys, Leah," Claire's mom, Charlotte, said.

"Hi," we answered in unison.

"Have you planned anything for Claire's birthday party?" Quil asked her. Claire's birthday was in three days. I only knew that because Quil had been talking about it for days; he was trying to find the perfect gift for her.

"Not yet. We've just arrived home, I'm still unpacking out things, and I haven't thought of anything yet," she explained.

"Would you like us to plan her party then?" Quil asked excitedly.

"You'd do that? I mean, wouldn't it be too much for you to plan it and do the running at night?"

Claire's mom knew about us being shape-shifters. Quil had to explain it to her when he imprinted on Claire. He had to tell her why he was stalking her daughter, and he gave her some details about the pack.

I'd never understood how Charlotte hadn't freak out, and decided to move away from the freakish boy stalking her baby daughter, but she took it all pretty well.

"That won't be a problem. We aren't running anymore," Seth confessed to her. All for keeping our secrets to ourselves…

"So would you mind if we prepared it then?" Quil asked again.

"No, not at all. I'll appreciate it," Claire's mom replied.

"OK, then we'll prepare everything!" Quil smiled. He looked like he had won a million dollars. Wait a minute…did he just say _we_? "So, guys, when do we start preparing everything?" He asked with puppy dog eyes, looking directly into my own.

No, no, no, no, no and no!

Why did I always cave in with the puppy pout?

Today was the day of the party, and as you can imagine, I spent the next three days helping Quil prepare everything for it. Although spending the days looking for balloons and other children stuff wasn't my favorite hobby, like it was Quil, the time I spent with the boys was fun. They weren't that bad, although I'd deny it if they'd asked me.

I went downstairs where Seth and Embry were waiting for me to go to Claire's house.

"Wow! Leah, you look nice!" Embry commented when he saw me.

For once, I had decided to dress like a girl and wore a yellow sundress.

"Are we ready to leave now?" Seth asked.

I nodded and we walked together to Claire's house.

When we arrived there, Emily and Sam were already in the living room; Emily was helping with the food, and Sam was eating it. This was great! The two people I always tried to avoid were always the first ones I had to deal with.

And just my luck, they saw me. Emily left the hot dogs' plate on the table and came running towards me. She wanted to hug me, but with a fast movement, I avoided it. She looked sad but I still couldn't forgive her for all that had happened. I knew it wasn't her fault, but I felt like she had betrayed me.

Imprinting wasn't something you could control. When it happened, it happened, and there was nothing you could do. But the imprintees had the power to choose what the relationship was to be like: a friend, a brother, a husband. And Emily chose Sam to be her man.

"Hi," I said in an effort not to be so rude, and then walked towards the food table where Seth and Embry were already eating.

One by one, all the guests arrived: Paul and Rachel, Jared and Kim, Colin, Brady, my mom and Charlie, some of Claire's friends... and Jacob with Renesmee? Yes, Renesmee Cullen was here. Jacob and Quil had taken their little girlfriends one day to play together, and Claire told Renesmee she was invited to her party. Renesmee wrote it down, and yesterday she called to see if she was still a guest to the party. Of course Claire told her to come, so here she was.

Jacob and Renesmee saw us. She smiled and touched Jacob's face showing him God-knows-what with her power. Jake nodded and then she ran to where Charlie and my mom were and Jacob walked towards us.

"Hey, guys! Nice party, huh?" We kept silent. "Um... I called you a couple of times, Leah. I wanted to apologize and talk to you." We stayed silent again. He sighed in defeat and went to where his imprintee was. I looked around, trying to focus on something that wasn't Jacob, and saw the La Push pack watching us; they all looked shocked, not understanding why we weren't talking to our Alpha.

After the awkward moment, the party continued. Some people were dancing, others were talking, and I was sitting alone, eating a huge hamburger and completely bored. Not because everyone was ignoring me. Emily tried twice to start a conversation with me, but every time she came near me, I walked away from her. She wasn't the only one I avoided. During the party, Jacob tried to talk to me too, but my oh-so-famous Leah look was enough to make him walk away.

After three hours of eating, at least in my case, Mom and Charlie, and Jacob and Renesmee, and other people, decided to leave. Claire, some of her friends, Emily, Kim and Rachel were outside playing some game, so the two packs were left alone in the small living room.

"Guys, I'm gonna go look for Claire," Quil informed us. He went outside to see what Claire and the rest of the people playing were doing.

"Well, well, well...looks like the little Bloodsucker-Pack has no Alpha anymore... Don't tell me you gonna start crying or something. Buah, buah!" Paul said while faking he was crying. Typical of Paul, starting a fight when he knew they were more than us. Five boys against two guys and girl wasn't a very fair fight, but I was ready to kick some ass if I needed to.

"Paul, why the hell do you always have to bother us?" Seth asked.

"Paul, shut up!" Sam ordered, and then turned to us. "So you don't talk to Jacob, huh? What are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean with what are we going to do?" Embry asked.

"Well, you can't be without an Alpha. If you left Jake's pack, then you should come back to mine," Sam answered.

"Sam, we're at Claire's party so can we not talk about this right now?" I said whilst glaring at him.

"Leah, you can't be on your own for much longer. If something happens, you need to have an Alpha, someone to follow." Sam was starting to be impatient.

"Sam, shut up, okay!" I was losing my patience too.

"Leah, you need come back to my pack," Sam ordered.

"Ha. Keep dreaming, Sam. I'd rather die than be in your pack again!" I shouted.

"Leah, it's important that you have a leader!" Sam shouted back.

"We already have a leader," I informed him.

"Jacob? You're not talking to him. What kind of leader is he? He can't even control you…he's not your Alpha anymore."

"Sam, we do have a leader. Let me remind you that I'm Jacob's Beta. And if he isn't our Alpha then I am." After that escaped my mouth, the La Push pack started laughing.

"You, Leah? You'll be the new alpha? Oh, God! I've forgotten how funny you were," Sam said in between laughter.

That was it! Without thinking twice, I took Claire's cake and threw it at his face. He stopped laughing and looked at me with angry eyes while the cake's cream and chocolate slid from his face. I thought he was going to phase. He was really pissed, but all he did was grab some smashed potatoes and threw them at me. After that, the two packs started a food fight.

Suddenly the door of the room was opened. Quil, Claire, Emily, Rachel, Kim and the other kids all had wide eyes, watching us from the door.

All the time I spent doing my make up and dressing nicely was a waste of time. I must have looked funny holding the ketchup bottle in one hand, a piece of lemon pie in the other, and all covered in mashed potatoes, cake, soda, chocolate, ketchup and other things.

I looked at Claire who was holding Quil's hand. She looked like she was going to start crying, and I felt like such a bitch for ruining the girl's birthday party...but my guilt disappeared when Claire's laughter erupted all over the silent room.

"The best party ever, Qwil!" she said happily.

After cleaning all the mess in Claire's house, I went home. There was no one there. Mom must have gone somewhere with Charlie to do whatever they do when they are together, and Seth might have been humping on some tree. So I was at home alone, bored. And when you are at home alone and bored there's only one thing you can do: THINK.

The first topic I needed to think about was Jacob Black.

What was I going to do with him? Should I forgive him? He seemed really sorry, and he tried to apologize a couple of times. He was still our Alpha. We left him and none of us had phased so we actually didn't know if he was still our Alpha or not. This brought me to another question: if he wasn't our Alpha anymore, did this mean that I was the Alpha of the pack?

It was obvious that Sam and his gang would disapprove of me becoming Alpha because I was a woman, but I didn't give a damn on what they thought. For all I cared, they could all go to hell.

But the real question was…did I want to be the Alpha? Was I ready to be the leader? I wasn't as strong as the guys. I was faster but not stronger, and the leader should be someone with strength, someone who was ready to command the pack. Someone who was definitely not me.

Second point: What was I going to do with my life? Before this craziness of becoming a shape-shifter happened, my goals were to marry Sam and have a family with him, or go to college. I opted for the first one, but I always dreamt about doing both. The first one right now was impossible. So I could try to pursue the second one. I always wanted to continue studying, and Dad always encouraged me to keep doing it because that was going to help me for my future. It would allow me leave the Rez. But now, going to college was only a risk for me and the people that were close to me. If I got angry, and I did that a lot, I could phase in the middle of a class and hurt someone.

I was really fucking broken. I had no friends because they were all scared of me. I didn't have a special someone to share my time with, and I was pretty sure my mom wished I could be who I used to be. I wanted to take care of my baby brother, but I was a bad example to follow. I wanted to make a break from the supernatural world and leave. Work, go to college somewhere, make something of myself, and never come back.

As much as I wanted to quit this place, I wasn't leaving my mom, or my brother.

My mind was thinking about all this, but my body was doing the opposite. I was in front of my computer on the North Seattle College's website with my application filled out. The only thing I had to do was to click on the send button. An opportunity to leave would be available.

I couldn't do it... Mom, Seth, La Push... but my mind didn't work as fast as my hands did, because the application was already sent.

Some hours later, Seth came home to tell me mom called him, telling him we had to be home because she had something important to tell us. Something important? Maybe she got that new job she's wanted for so long. She's been working as a nurse all her life and she wanted to be the new Head Nurse. She'd be a great boss, because she loved to tell people what they had to do. I knew that bossy attitude of hers too well...

The front door opened and Mom entered with a huge smile on her face. She was smiling so big that she might stay like that if she continued doing it.

"Hi, kids, I have something to tell you... sit down, please." Uh-Oh. She told us to sit down... this was not a good sign.

Mom was standing in the living room, frowning like when you were thinking how to say something that wasn't good. She stayed like that for a couple of minutes, pacing and frowning from one side of the room to the other.

"Mom, can you spit it out?" I wasn't a patient person. "Just say it!"

"Okay...how to start…I...Charlie...he..."

"He what?" I was losing my patience.

"Okay." She breathed deep and said in a rush, "."

"What?" I heard it but needed to hear it again, just to make sure that what I'd heard wasn't a joke or something.

She took a deep breath again and said, "Charlie asked me to marry him and I said yes."

Oh. My. God. This wasn't happening.

"You are kidding, right?" I asked her.

"No, Leah, I'm going to marry Charlie Swan," she told me and showed me the diamond ring on her left hand she had been hiding since she came home. Seth stood up and hugged her while I sat staring at her ring.

Mom was going to get married! Let me try this again. She was going to marry Charlie Swan! As in Bella Swan's father. Mom was getting married to the vampire's dad. This meant we were going to be related to Bella, and to the Cullens.

I couldn't feel the air getting to my lungs. My head was spinning and I felt my blood starting to boil. I took deep breaths to stop the shaking but they were getting stronger. The animal in me wanted to be released, and I wasn't going to stop it. I stood up shaking, and ran outside to the woods. Once in between the trees, I tried taking off all my clothes and tying it to my leg before my skin exploded, changing into fur, my mouth turning into a snout, my hands and legs into paws.

I ran, something that relaxed me and I loved doing it, heading to nowhere and anywhere far from my house. I pushed my legs harder. My speed was the only thing I enjoyed of this shape-shifting thing. I was fast. Scratch that, I was the fastest of all my pack brothers, and I was sure I was even faster than any of the bloodsuckers.

No one was phased, which was a relief. I needed this mental peace. This loneliness in my head, but my silent thoughts were interrupted.

_Leah, what happened? Why did you run?_ Seth asked worried.

_Seth, leave me alone._

_Leah, talk to me, please._

I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. I didn't know why I was reacting this way. I phased back to human. I needed to find out what was going on with me, alone. I wasn't sure if I wanted to cry, shout, or laugh. I felt numb. All I knew was that I wanted to be alone. I changed into what was left of my long T-shirt that barely covered my ass; my shorts didn't survive the phasing.

I kept running bare assed until my legs couldn't move anymore. I fell on my knees and my brain started to work again.

My mother was going to marry again? Why? She loved my father. Why did she need to marry again? And so soon? I knew she was dating Charlie, but marry him? He was not a bad guy or anything. He was actually kinda cool, simple and shy. And I liked that. He was my dad's friend, so he must be a really good man, but marriage was a huge step, without mentioning that he was Bella's father. So if they married, I was going to be Bella's step-sister!

"How could this day get any worse?" I whispered in the silent woods.

I opened my mouth too soon, because suddenly, I smelled a leech.


	5. Chapter 4

**Thanks so much to lost in his golden eyes and Bella_Barbaric, from Project Team Beta, for having a look at this chapter.**

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**Chapter 4: Talking to him?**

The smell was approaching me. I couldn't distinguish if it was one of the Cullens or another leech; they all smelled the same way to me, like cheap cologne. I was ready to phase until I saw _him_.

"What are you doing here, leech? You're passing the border line!"

"Actually, you're the one that's passing it," the blond guy said. "Is everything okay? Do you want me to call your brother or someone else to bring you some clothes?" He looked me up and down noticing that I only had a T-shirt to cover. I tried to stretch my T-shirt all I could to cover as much as possible. The least thing I needed was a bloodsucker seeing me naked.

"Do me a favor and get lost. And if you continue looking at me I promise I'll bite your vampy-ass, got it?"

"You are completely safe with me. I'm a gentleman. I won't look at you," he said, looking me in the eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I lied. I was barely covered by a T-shirt, in the middle of nowhere and wasting my time talking to no other than the leech that ate humans. What was his name? Casper, no wait, it was Jasper. Well, at least it wasn't the mind reader.

"You know I can feel your emotions, don't you? You can't fool me. And even if I couldn't feel them, I would have noticed you were sad. Is it because of Jacob?" he asked.

"No, and don't mention him, leech! He's dead to me! Now that you've got your answer, get lost."

He chose to ignore my 'get lost' invitation, and replied, "Yeah well, then you'll be happy to know that he looks like he's dead. You should try to talk to him, he misses you a lot."

"I don't care. He has you and your family now. I'm sure his precious Renesmee can help him."

"Leah, he really misses you. We tried talking to him. Renesmee's been next to him but he seems lost. I think he's like that because he's lost you and the other boys. You should go and see him."

This leech was irritable! He was really getting on my nerves.

"What part of 'I don't care' didn't you understand?" I spat at him. "And why the hell am I even talking to you? You're a leech!" I said the last part more to myself than to him.

"Well, _dog_, I just wanted to be polite."

"Don't call me _dog_!" I warned him.

"I will stop calling you _dog_ when you stop calling me _leech_. I have a name, you know? My name's Jasper Whitlock," he said with that weird accent of his.

Wasn't his surname Hale?

"That's Rosalie's last name, actually," he answered the question I thought I only asked in my head. "I adopted it for our human cover. She wanted to keep her name and as we look like twins, I changed it to Hale."

"Twins, really? The only similarities you both share are: you're both blond, pale and you both stink. Yeah, maybe that's enough to look like twins," she muttered.

He rolled his eyes. "Humans believe we're twins, so we say we are," he explained.

"Whatever…"

"So… is it because of Jacob that you're like this?" he asked again. "And don't say you don't care, because I know you care about him, I can feel it."

"I'm like what? Sad? Please _Jasper_, I'm not sad. Are you happy now? You have your answer, now leave me alone." He continued looking me in the eye, waiting for my real answer. "I won't tell you anything else because I don't have any problem."

"I can feel your emotions. I know something is bothering you. You know, I can help you ease the pain if you want."

"I don't think so. Now, stop analyzing me! I don't need your freaking whatever-you-do to screw other's emotions!"

He looked taken aback for a minute, and then he smirked.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you feel better?" That sounded so wrong…and creepy. "I was told once that I'm way better than getting drunk or any drug." Yep, definitely creepy.

"I think I'll pass. I just want you to leave my feelings the hell alone."

"I'm normally one to respect other people's choices, but you really need this."

I was going to leave when all of a sudden something made me relax. I felt like I had no will to do anything. A little voice in my head told me to stay there and talk to him.

Damn him! He was using his power on me! And, to be honest, I was enjoying the feeling. But he wasn't going to make me talk so fast! I was going to resist the urge to start telling him everything like my name was Leah Cl-

"I miss him," I blurted.

Fuck! So much for keeping my mouth shut.

"Who? Jacob? Oh, this is about Sam, right?"

"No!" I shouted and then I stayed quiet for a while. He didn't seem to mind the silence. It was so hard to talk about this with a bloodsucker.

"My dad." He didn't ask anything, he stayed in silence waiting for me to continue. "My mother is going to marry Charlie Swan, and I remembered my dad. I miss him." I stayed in silence again. "I was the one that killed him, you know. I phased and…he couldn't resist it. Mom loved him so much and now she has to marry again."

"I'm sure you didn't kill him," he said with such a concerned voice that I knew he was feeling the same I was feeling. He was here listening and _feeling_ me.

As if controlled by a force outside me, I started crying in the middle of the forest with a leech. Damn him and his power!

"Are you feeling better now?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I replied, wiping my tears. "You know, it wasn't necessary for you to use your gift to make me cry."

"I didn't use it. Not to make you cry at least."

I cried naturally? Okay…this was awkward. I hadn't cried in so long and now I was crying in front of none other than one of my mortal enemies who I thought was using his freaking power to make me cry!

"So, your mother and Charlie Swan are going to marry, eh? Aren't you happy for her?"

"I guess. I'm happy if she's happy. It's just...he's not my father."

He nodded. "Your father is always going to be your father. No one can replace him, and I don't think Charlie wants to replace him either. Don't you like him?"

"He's nice, and he was always there for my mom. It's just I don't want my mom or Seth to forget about Dad."

"I'm sure he doesn't want to make you forget your father. I heard they were good friends, so maybe he can tell you stories about him and your dad."

He was right, although I would deny it if anybody else asked me.

"And you always have your memories about him. You're so lucky that you can remember your life before you phased. I can't remember anything of my human life or family. The only thing I know is that I was a Major in the Confederate States Army serving in the Civil War. And then I was changed and don't remember anything about my parents or my human life."

"Haven't you ever tried searching what happened to your family?"

"No. I think it's just a waste of time. They are already gone and I don't even remember their names."

"I'm sorry."

We stayed silent again for a couple of minutes until I spoke again, "I-um, thanks for..."

"No problem," he said before I finished my line, he might have felt that it was really hard for me to thank him. He came closer to me... Wait, was he going to hug me?

"Ugh! Would you mind not coming so close. You reek." I stood up and sat far away where his smell wasn't that strong.

"First thing you say after thanking me is I smell bad?" He chuckled. "You're different."

"Tell me about it," I muttered.

"I don't mean to offend you, but I must inform you that your odor isn't that appealing to me."

"Don't worry you don't offend me with that. You do it by existing, _vampire_."

He started laughing.

I phased and ran back home.

Mom was waiting for me in the kitchen when I finally arrived home. When she saw me, she ran to me and hugged me tight.

"Leah, where were you? I was so worried about you. I know that my news was a bit too much. I'm so sorry. I should have talked to you first...I won't marry Charlie if you don't like him."

"Really?"

"No! I had to try. Charlie's a good man, Leah."

"I know. I know I overreacted a little, okay? I wasn't expecting that. I never thought someday he might have the balls to ask you."

"Then why have you reacted like that when I told you?"

"I remembered Dad and...never mind."

"Leah, Harry is, was and will always be my first love. He was the father of my children and I would never forget him. Marrying Charlie doesn't mean things will change. Harry is always in my mind and my heart. And I'm sure he approves of Charlie."

"Mom, are you happy with Charlie?" She nodded. "Then I'm happy for you."

"Oh, Leah, honey," she said as she hugged me. "Thank you, it means a lot to me that you accept it. I thought you'd react badly anyway. I mean Charlie is Bella's father, and you know, she is related to the Cullens, and with you hating them and all; I wasn't sure you'd be very happy."

Oh dear lordy...the Cullens were going to be part of my family. How could I have missed that! The Cullens, more specifically Edward, Bella and Renesmee, and the Clearwaters were going to be related. I was going to need therapy for a long, _long_ time.

* * *

Mom and Charlie wanted to marry soon and have a simple ceremony, so they decided to marry in a month. Alice Cullen was organizing everything, which meant nothing would be simple in the wedding.

The previous days to the wedding were hell for me. For example, one day Mom came with some dresses _Wedding Planner Cullen_ gave her for me. They all looked expensive and so chic, the type of dresses you could only dream about. Emily, Kim, Rachel and Mom had dreamy eyes and I swore I saw them drooling over the dresses. I, on the other hand, hated them, so I took a lighter and burned the dresses because they reeked. Mom wasn't happy with my actions, but understood I didn't want to have anything that came from _them_. But the torture didn't stop there, the next day Mom told me I had to go shopping with Alice to buy my new dress.

Days went by and the wedding day arrived. The ceremony was taking place in First Beach. There was this huge white tent full of flowers and candles. It was beautiful. Inside the tent there were round tables, a dance floor, and a little stage where the DJ was, and a large table full of all types of food.

The guests included my family, Charlie's family and friends, Sam's pack, my pack, Billy Black, the other elders... and the Cullens. They were allowed to pass the boundary line only for today. Sam's pack wasn't very happy with this but they had to deal with it because the elders let them pass.

So here I was in a tight dark blue dress and high heels, watching how my mother was making faces and kissing my new step-father while they were trying to dance. Now I knew where Bella inherited her clumsiness from.

Other people were dancing too. The La Push pack members were watching every move the Cullens made. Some of the leeches were talking and some dancing.

Seth and Embry were flirting with every single woman they saw. Colin and Brady were sticking their French fries in their mouths, pretending they were fangs. It was kinda comical. And as for me, I was sitting in a table doing what I did best: eating. As you could see, I was having a great time... Not! If there was something I hated more than my whole life, it was attending weddings. But for my mother, I'd pretend I was having a great time, and whenever she wasn't looking my way, I could stop smiling.

Suddenly, I was interrupted from 'my great time' by Emily. "Hi, Leah! You look beautiful in that dress. Are you enjoying the party?"

_I was until you came..._ "Sure."

"You really look great today," she repeated.

"Aha."

"So, how have you been? We haven't talked in ages, and I miss you so much," she said, smiling sadly.

"What do you want, Emily? Just spit it out!"

"Leah, I-I don't know how to tell you this...I...Sam..."

"Emily, if you're here to tell me that you're sorry for taking Sam away from me, let me tell you I'm over him, so stop apologizing."

"Leah, I need to tell you something."

"Not now, Emily."

"Leah, I'm pregnant," she whispered, so softly that any normal human couldn't be able to hear, but I heard her as if she had shouted it.

I was frozen. I couldn't breathe.

She was pregnant. Emily was pregnant. She was having the baby I would never be able to have!

"You..."

"Yes Leah, I'm expecting a baby. I'm three months pregnant, and I want you to be the baby's godmother."

What the fuck? Please somebody shut her up or I didn't know if I'd be able to stop myself from hitting her!

"Leah, say something, please."

"What do you want me to say? That you're having a baby I would never be able to have!" I shouted making everyone's eyes turn to us.

"Leah, I..."

"What else do you want me to say, Emily? That I'm happy for you? That I love the idea of you having the baby I should be having? The baby I would never have because I'm fucking menopausal? Well congratulations, Emily! Oh, and thanks for thinking about me to be the child's godmother!" I stormed outside.

"Leah, wait!" Seth shouted. "Leah!"

I ran. I didn't phase because my brother would find me that way; not that he wouldn't be able to find me in my human form, but I needed to be mentally alone. And I didn't want to ruin another dress. Yes! I phased before the wedding.

I ran towards Bella's cliff, the one where she jumped off of when the leech left her; although she didn't jump to kill herself, but I...This wasn't the first time I had contemplated suicide, but the first time I contemplated it seriously.

I stood up at the very edge of the cliff watching the dark water that waited for me with arms wide open. I stood there watching for what seemed like hours. I turned my back to the sea. Could I do this? Did I want to do this?

I'd never been the weak one, never the one to escape when trouble came. I survived through Sam leaving me, through my dad's death, through becoming a wolf, through my Mom marrying again. Everything seemed to be always against me and I overcame it. When I was starting to heal, fate brought another drama to my life. Emily, my cousin, no, my best friend, my sister was having a baby. There was a little creature inside of her, a baby I could only dream with but never be able to have. I couldn't take it anymore.

I went back to the edge of the cliff. I looked up at the sky. I didn't want to see the water where I was going to jump.

One step and my life would be over. Did I have the guts? Leah Clearwater wasn't afraid of anything. I wasn't a coward. Then why was I going to take the coward's way? This was the only way to stop this agony, this screwed life I had, and I needed to end it all.

I inched one leg closer to the edge. One step separating life and death. What about my family? Seth and Mom, they'd already lost dad, and if I jumped they would suffer again. And today was Mom's wedding day, I was sure that if I killed myself she would manage to bring me back to life just to kill me herself for doing something this stupid.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This wasn't me. This wasn't my style. I wasn't suicidal. I would leave that to Bella. I opened my eyes and watched again to the wide sea. For God's sake, I was Leah Clearwater. I didn't give a damn what others thought about me!

I was going to turn back to walk away from the edge of the cliff when I stepped on a rock, lost balance and fell off of the cliff. The wind rushed through my face until I landed in the water. While I was falling I might have banged my right arm against something breaking the bone, because I couldn't move it. I was trying to go back to the surface, but trying to swim with only one hand was really hard.

The underwater current hugged me and pushed me deeper into the sea. I needed oxygen soon, or else it would be too late for me. I made my last attempt to go back to the exterior but the underwater was hugging me tightly, my despair and my hurt body felt too tired to fight against it.

The water started filling my lungs I could feel it. I was still conscious. Darkness was all around me, but suddenly I saw a pair of blue eyes that seemed to be part of the water, of the sea. I smiled, the sea didn't have eyes. Maybe one of the symptoms of death was that you hallucinated. My eyes started to close. I felt two strong arms wrap around me. I was too weak to open my eyes and see what was going on, but I felt like we were moving up.

The next thing I felt was air coming to my lungs. I was breathing again. My body felt tired though and my lungs hurt like hell. I wanted to see what was happening but I couldn't open my eyes yet. Next thing I felt was that I was underwater again, but soon after I felt the oxygen filling my lungs again. After what seemed like forever I felt I was being laid on sand. My breathing started to go back to normal, but for some reason I couldn't open my eyes or move my body. I sniff the air to see if I could identify my savior. I inhaled a scent that I had never known before, the scent of an Alpha wolf, a scent I wanted to breathe every single day for the rest of my life.

"Can you hear me?" He asked.

How could I not hear you? I could listen to that voice forever. I wanted to open my eyes and see the face of that magical voice's owner. I wanted to hear it again. Say something else please…

"Leah? Leah!" Okay, that voice wasn't the one I wanted. Was that Jacob's voice? "Leah!" He shouted panicked. "Can you hear me, Leah? What happened? What did you do to her?"

"I just took her out of the water," The mystery man's sexy voice said.

"Okay. Leah, hold on. I'm calling Carlisle."

_No, no, no! Anybody but the leeches! Jacob, don't you dare call them! I don't want any of them near me!_

Right now I wished he had the power to read my mind. He was talking to them. Ugh! "It's Leah, she's unconscious I don't know what to do… She jumped off of the cliff… A guy took her out of the water when she jumped… Okay. Hurry up! I can't lose her..."

Some minutes later the leeches came because the air started to smell like crap. Someone chuckled.

_I guess you're here, Edward._

"Yes, Leah. Don't sound so happy." He chuckled again.

_Could this day go any better?_

"I'm guessing she's conscious, right? You can hear her thoughts? That's good. Miss Clearwater, can you try to move a finger or your hand?" That must be Dr Dracula.

"Doc, why isn't she moving? Do you hear me, Leah, move! Say something. Don't be this quiet, it's not you," Jacob ordered me.

God, Jacob, you think I want to be like this?

"Well she might be quiet but her mind is still the same as always."

_Thanks, Eddie. I love you too! Enjoy all you can now that I can't move because when I get up the first thing I'll do is going to be to bite you. And tell the Doc that I tried opening my eyes and move but I couldn't. And I'm trying really hard because I want to see my savior. By the way, why don't you make him talk? He has a sexy voice._

"She said she tried opening her eyes and moving but she can't, Carlisle. And Leah, there's no one here apart from Carlisle, Jacob and me."

What? Where's the guy who saved me? Did they scare him? If I could talk, I would have shouted this last part.

"He left when I arrived," Jacob informed me as if he could read my mind.

"Leah, could you please stop shouting? I can read your thoughts, remember?"

_I'm going to shout all I want, Eddie. Ahhhh!_

"Leah, when was the last time you phased?" The smooth voice of the doctor asked.

The last time I phased? The last time was... when I had the conversation with Jasper, three or four weeks ago.

"It was three or four weeks ago, Carlisle. Do you think that's why she isn't healing fast?"

_What are you talking about, leech? I heal fast!_

"Leah, you haven't phased in three weeks, and your healing is taking a little longer than when you phase every day. You're heal-"

I couldn't hear more, I was felling numb. My head started spinning around until blackness overtook me.


	6. Chapter 5

**I'd like to thank ****Fictor09 and jenniemae2013 from PTB, for helping me with the grammar of this chapter. :)**

**A/n: Just to clear some things up. First, ****Leah didn't imprint on the Mystery Guy. I want her to fall in love naturally. Second, ****the 'Prologue' (1st chapter you read) is in the Mystery Guy's POV. And last, I hope you enjoy and review or PM me with all your doubts, I'll try to answer them.**

**Happy reading! :)**

**

* * *

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**Chapter ****5: Living with the Cullens.**

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The sound had been enough to wake me from the darkness that bound me. Even though I was awake, I was disoriented. The silence of the room was deafening, and I heard ringing in my ears. My ribs were in severe pain, but I ignored it as I saw my mother sleeping on a couch near the window of the room.

I tried calling for her but nothing escaped my lips.

"Leah?" Ugh! That voice...

_What do you want?_

"Can she hear you, Edward?" Another voice asked. That must be Doctor Dracula.

"Yes, she can hear me, and she's as sweet as ever, Carlisle."

_Stupid leech, have I ever told you that I hate you?_

"Yes, Leah, you have told me that a couple of times."

_Ugh! Why the hell can't I talk? What have you done to me?_

"Relax, Leah, you can't talk because one of your lungs was punctured, so you won't be able to talk for few days, but I'll be your translator." He smiled.

Son of a leech! What else could go wrong?

"Miss Clearwater, now that you're conscious I would like to perform some tests. Only if you'll let me, of course."

_Some t__ests? There's no freaking way he is going to touch me! If he tries something I'll bite him. Translate that!_

"She wants to know what kind of tests, Carlisle," he asked.

"Well, blood tests for one, and I would like to take some X-rays of your ribs, arm, and your head as well, to make sure that nothing else is broken, Miss Clearwater."

Edward chuckled.

_I have more brain__s than you do, bloodsucker. And Edweird, could you tell him to stop calling me Miss Clearwater? It's really getting on my nerves._

"Leah? Leah, you're awake!" My mother ran to me and hugged me. "Oh Leah, baby, I was so scared. I thought I was going to lose you. You've been in this bed unconscious for four days, but you're okay now, right, Doctor Cullen? Is she going to be fine?" Doctor Dracula was going to explain, but my mother continued talking. "Oh, Leah, you have to thank Jacob. He gave you blood because you lost a lot, that's why you fainted. You're still alive because of him."

Jacob? Jacob freaking Black gave me his blood?

I looked up to Edward and he nodded.

_Why?_

"Leah, you should've seen his face when he thought you were dying. He cares about you and the pack a lot more than what he shows."

My head started to hurt, so Doctor Cullen gave me some pain killers and I fell asleep.

When I woke up my mom wasn't there anymore. In her place was Bella reading a book. Looking out the window were Jasper, and standing next to him was Alice. Edward and Emmett were on the other side of the room talking. Wow! I just realized I called the bloodsuckers by their names.

"Leah, you're up." Edward chuckled. "How are you feeling?" I tried to speak but my voice didn't come. "Don't worry, you'll be able to speak soon."

Jasper and Alice came closer to the right side of my bed. Bella was sitting on the sofa near the window looking at me from behind her book, and Emmett and Edward came closer to the other side of my bed. They all seemed to be enjoying the silence, enjoying that I couldn't talk or move.

_Enjoy all you can now, because when I finally recover, this will be hell!_

Edward laughed. I cursed him, but he was only amused by my words.

My stomach growled. I was hungry!

"I'm going to tell Esme to prepare something for you to eat," Jasper said and disappeared.

Ten minutes later, Mama Vamp came in with a bowl of soup. Damn vampires and their super speed! However, I was happy she came with the food quickly because I was starving.

"Leah needs to eat, so leave us alone," she commanded. They all left the room, leaving me alone with the Mother Vamp. "Leah, you can't move so I have to feed you. I promise I won't touch you or get too close to you. I know we smell to you," she said in a sweet voice.

She scooped up a spoonful of soup and slowly led it to me mouth. I wasn't sure about this. I was thankful that they saved me and helped me, but being fed by a vampire wasn't exactly on my to do list. Scratch that. Being fed by anyone wasn't on my list, but I was starving and if there was something we shifters couldn't live without it was eating, so I opened my mouth and swallowed the hot liquid she was offering me.

Mmm! It was delicious.

"Is it too hot?" she asked.

I shook my head 'no'. She smiled and gave me another spoonful of soup.

"Is it good? Do you want me to prepare something else for you? I can go to the kitchen and make it for you," she said all concerned. I shook my head 'no' again.

She kept on feeding me in silence, just watching me like a mother would.

The Mother Vamp, Esme. She wasn't that bad. Actually, I didn't care that she was a vampire. I liked her. She didn't give the impression of being a 'cold blooded killer', especially when she acted all motherly with me. She wasn't very _vampiric_.

While I was eating, Doctor Cullen came and explained that I had broken two ribs, which punctured my lung and that was the reason I fainted and lost so much blood. He also explained that I couldn't move because my body was trying to heal.

After Esme fed me, I fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up and it was dark, not that Forks was a bright and sunny place or anything. During the day you couldn't distinguish the time easily when all you could see was clouds and rain 365 days of the year, but as I'd lived here all my life, I knew when it was night time.

"Yes, it's exactly 2:37 am."

I was sure that if I had my voice I would have screamed.

_What the hell are you doing here? Don't you have something else to do than stalking me while I sleep?_

"I don't sleep, so I can stay here all day," he answered. "Carlisle wanted me to check on you. He wanted me to make sure you're okay."

_Look, I don't need a babysitter__, so you can tell him I'm fine. Doesn't your mind radar catch my thoughts when you're in another room?_

He nodded.

_So leave!_

"But I like staying here. It's better than reading or playing the piano."

_What are you talking about? O__h my god! Don't tell me you're one of those pervs that enjoys watching girls sleep!_

"Leah, I wasn't watching you sleep! I-"

_Oh my God! You are one of those guys! What have you done to me? Have you touched me?_

"Leah, please relax and stop shouting in your mind! I haven't touched you or anything, but I enjoyed watching your dreams."

_What? That's not helping me relax!_

"I can hear every thought, every fantasy, and every desire, everything people think, and trust me, I don't enjoy it. I enjoy the silence, and your mind is anything but silent when you're awake…but when you're asleep, your dreams are beautiful." He paused. "It's something different, something I wanted to listen to, something I enjoy. That's why I like staying here. I didn't want to bother you or _stalk_ you."

_Oh!_

He chuckled. "That's all you have to say?"

_I thought you were watching me__. I didn't know you were listening to my dreams._

"Apology accepted."

_What? I wasn't apologizing. Can I ask you something?_

"Sure."

_Do the boys know I'm here?_

He nodded. "They were here today but you were sleeping."

_Are they mad at me? They think I tried to kill myself, don't they?_

"They're just worried. Seth wanted to stay here but your mom told him to go home and tomorrow he can come back. Embry and Quil left, but promise they'll come back tomorrow, too. And as for the second thing, was that your intention? You wanted to kill yourself?"

_I thought about it, but then I remember__ed that going all suicidal was already taken by you and Bella, so I gave up the idea._

I showed him what happened and then we stayed silent for a moment.

_Do Sam and Emily know what happened to me?_

He nodded. "Emily tried coming that day, but Sam's forbidden her to come. Rosalie almost ripped her throat out at the wedding."

_Good, I don't want to see her. Wait... Rosalie did what?_

"Rosalie was really mad. We heard what she told you and she somehow understood how you felt."

_I never thought Blondie of all people would do something like that._

"Why don't you want to see Emily?"

_Why? Because every time I see her, I see the life I'll never have. I see the baby I'll never have. I see Sam and I see how happy he is without me. I'm over him and all, but it hurts to know that by a simple look I was left aside and he can continue life without the pain I had to go through._

"Leah, don't you think it's time to forget what could have happen? I know how you felt when you lost him. I once thought I lost Bella and tried ending my life, too, but things always happen for a reason. I know it hurts, but they may take you to something better than Sam."

We stayed silent again.

_Thank you, Edward__._

"No problem. What are step-brothers for?"

Having this 'silent conversation' with Edward was good.

_There__, I said it. I enjoyed talking to you._

He smiled. "It was my pleasure. I really enjoyed your company."

_You know, we are in the __twenty first century. Nobody uses "I enjoyed your company". God, you're so old-fashioned._

"And what do they say?"

_Just 'It was cool talking to you' or 'we should repeat this again'._

"You want to do this again?" he added, smirking.

_Hell no!_

"But I can read your mind all the time, so actually I'll be having 'silent conversations' with you all the time." He laughed and I yawned. "You must be tired. I'll leave you to sleep. Goodnight, Leah."

_Goodnight, Edweird._

He laughed and left the room.

* * *

I woke up for the nineteenth time that day. After my conversation with Edward, I couldn't stop thinking about what to do, because some things, like forgetting the past, were easier said than done. I had tried numerous times to forget that I wasn't going to be a mother, but it was like standing in Antarctica without a coat and trying to forget about the cold. Okay, bad example, because I could. I'm hot! Let me rephrase that... My _temperature_ is hot. It was absolutely impossible to forget all the childhood dreams I had about starting my own family. I also dreamt about marrying Matt Damon, but I guess having a baby was something more probable than marrying the sexy actor.

Before I could think so much that my brain turned to dust, Edward, Jasper, and Rosalie came in. "Good morning, Leah. How have you been?" Edward asked.

_What are you doing here?_

"I was coming to see how you were. Jasper and Rosalie wanted to see you, too, so they joined me."

"Ha! I wanted to see you, and these two wanted to make sure I wasn't going to kill you, but don't worry, I won't," Rosalie said.

Jasper and Edward looked at each other and nodded.

"You want us to stay?" Jasper asked me.

I looked at Blondie, and she was glaring at them. I shook my head 'no'.

_Ed__die, remember you can read my mind and hers, so if she tries something you'll know._ He nodded, and left the room with Jasper behind him.

Rosalie stood there watching the door for a few minutes, and then she turned to me and smiled.

Wait! Was she smiling at me?

My expression must have been very funny to her because she started laughing. "I said I'm not going to do anything to you, so don't panic."

I raised my eyebrow. I wish she could read minds, too, so she would understand that I didn't understand why she was here.

"I wanted to see if you were okay. I heard what happened the day of the wedding. I understand how you felt when that _bitch_ told you that." I opened my mouth, but she cut me off. "I know she's your cousin and all, but she didn't have to tell you that. She knows you're still in love with Sam, and she knows you can't have kids, and then she goes and tells you that. If she's not a bitch, tell me who is, then?" She seemed angry. She said every single word with pure anger. "I wanted to have kids, too, but then I changed and... well, I can't have kids now."

We stayed in silence until she started talking again. "When I was human, I was engaged to a wealthy boy. I was in love with him and I thought he was in love with me, too. I had a friend that had a baby boy and ever since I saw him I wanted one of my own. I guess my fiancé and I didn't share the same dreams. One day, he and his friends beat me, raped me, and left me to die. I was dead before Carlisle changed me, because the man I loved took away from me the only dream I wanted to come true. After I was changed I got my revenge, though."

She looked at me for a moment and then continued. "You're the only one that truly understands me. That's why I'm telling you this," she said, looking me in the eyes. "She doesn't deserve your forgiveness. If you want I'll go and rip her head off, and Sam's, too. I don't like him."

I laughed, but soon I started to cough. "When you recover your voice, if you ever want to talk to someone, I'm here for you." She smiled at me again, and left the room.

* * *

Later that day, Quil, Embry, and Seth came to visit. At first the three of them were angry because they thought I tried to kill myself, but after I explained what really happened, they laughed.

Mom and Charlie came, too. I was a little ashamed that because of me, they had to cancel their honeymoon, but they told me they were going on a trip this weekend now that I was conscious and in good hands.

The rest of the day was slow and boring. Esme came to feed me every now and then. Okay, she came like every two hours to feed me.

Doctor Cullen came too to check on my ribs. He said they were healing slowly, but correctly. He also told me that I might recover my voice in a few days, two days at the least, which made me very happy because that meant I could finally yell at Edward.

Rosalie came with Alice to help me bathe. While doing it, they talked about how Emily was a bitch. They spent the whole time criticizing her. It was nice to know someone shared my thoughts, except for the part of her dying. Deep in my mind, I knew it wasn't her fault. She didn't force Sam to imprint on her. It was fate.

After almost a week without talking I was finally recovering my voice. Now, what was I going to say?

My thoughts were interrupted by Edward entering the room.

"Are you ready to say your first words, Leah?"

I opened my mouth and tried to speak. It was very painful and my throat hurt like hell.

"Here, drink some water." He gave me a glass of water, which I quickly swallowed and...

"Where's Jacob?" These were my first words. "Why didn't he come to visit?"

"He's downstairs playing downstairs some new video game. Do you want me to call him?"

I nodded.

_I need to talk to him and thank him for..._

He nodded. "I'll call him."

You know when you're waiting for something to happen and time goes slowly, making one minute feel like an eternity? Well, that was exactly how I felt right now. Edward left ten minutes ago to tell Jake I wanted to talk to him and he hadn't arrived yet.

Meanwhile, I was thinking about how to start the conversation. Should I apologize before thanking him? Or should I thank him and then apologize?

I'd been really mean to him because of a stupid makeover that never happened, and then I found out that he gave me some of his blood. Damn, I was a bitch! I'd better apologize before thanking him for saving my life. So first I would apologize and then thank him. Now, how do I apologize? Something like: "Sorry Jake?" This was so difficult!

The door opened and Jake walked in. "What the hell, Jacob! Why haven't you visited me before?"

"Leah, I thought you didn't want to see me after all that happened. I-"

"You don't think Jacob, that's the problem. We've been in the same house for a week and you haven't come once."

"Leah, I-"

"Don't 'Leah' me, Jake. Look, I don't want to fight, so thanks for the blood."

"No problem."

"No problem my ass! Jake, you saved me! I don't know why, but you did, so thanks."

"I did it because you're my sister and my beta. Plus, I had some extra liters of blood I didn't need." He laughed at his own joke.

The door opened once again and Embry, Quil, and Seth entered.

"Jake, I'm sorry for shouting at you and closing the door in your face," Seth apologized.

"So can we start again? I mean we know you gave Leah your blood and now we know you care about us," Quil added.

Embry extended his hand to Jake and he shook it.

We were a pack again.

* * *

I started walking a little once my ribs didn't hurt so much, so staying here wasn't as boring as when I was confined to bed. Esme still cooked for me, but I could eat on my own, and I could even bathe myself. Of course Doctor Cullen didn't want me to do too much, so there was a;ways someone watching every move I made.

Carlisle told me that he thought in three more days I'd heal completely. As he said this I felt a little sad because when I fully recovered I would have to go home, and would miss spending time with the vampires. Yes, I know what you're thinking. I had to almost die to realize the Cullens, with their freaking powers and all, weren't so bad.

How could I hate them when they'd helped me recover from my physical bruises and mental problems?

Rosalie and Alice had become the supernatural friends I'd never imagined I would have. They were my mortal enemies, but they knew what it was like to be different than the rest. We could talk about everything, and I especially liked when they messed around with the pack boys. Alice was good-natured; she always comforted me, was always so sweet. While Rosalie had a strong personality, she was never afraid to shout at me and tell me where I could go (which most of the time was to hell), but I liked her. She was always honest with me.

Bella and I... Well, Bella and I had kind of started talking now that we were family. We talked from time to time about Mom and Charlie. My relationship with my new step-sister was good, not that we were best friends, but we could be in the same room and I feel the need to attack, fight, or shout at her... well, not most of the time.

With Eddie-boy all my thoughts were un-private. He read my mind and started talking about it, but he was cool, very old-fashioned, but a nice friend to share things with.

Esme and Carlisle were awesome. Carlisle always worried about everybody, and Esme was so sweet. Every time she said something it was to make you feel loved.

Emmett was lots of fun. At the beginning we didn't talk much, but one day there was this baseball game on TV and he was making lots of noise and I couldn't sleep. I went downstairs to see what was going on, and the next thing I was doing was shouting as loud as him to the TV. After the game, Emmett and I debated about who the best players were. We spent the whole night talking about sports.

Then there was Jasper, or as I called him, ,the Mojo Major. He didn't talk too much. He was more of a listener. He became my personal psychologist. He sat and I started talking until I had nothing else to say. He'd suggest what to do and then he'd leave, just like when we talked in the forest. Another thing that I liked about him was his dark humor, which I found fascinating.

As for Renesmee, well, let's just say she was different from the rest. I started to understand her a little and feel bad that she would never enjoy her childhood like I did. In six years she was going to be a woman. She was going to miss lots of things like kindergarten and primary school, sleepovers, and hanging out with friends. We had small conversations where she would show me things with her power, and it was very entertaining when you didn't want to talk.

* * *

_***Next morning***_

Doctor Carlisle came to check my ribs and said everything had healed so I could go back to normal life. He suggested not to phase for a few days but said I could do everything else on my own.

I was sitting in the living room chatting with Alice and Rose when my mom's car arrived. She was taking me home since I couldn't phase.

"So, are you coming tomorrow?" Alice asked.

"Yes, if you want me to come I will."

"Of course, Leah! We love having you here," Alice said while hugging me.

"You better be here tomorrow or else I'll come and personally bring your ass here," Rosalie so nicely told me.

My mother was in the car. She looked happy and relaxed. She had just arrived from her trip with Charlie so she was in a good mood.

The drive home was basically Mom telling me all about the trip. Like: "Charlie held my hand while walking on the beach" or "Charlie is so cute when he sleeps," and other things I wish I had never heard.

I almost jumped out of the car once I saw _my_ home. Yes, _my_ home. Charlie and mom were living at Charlie's house, so Seth and I had the La Push house to ourselves, not that we were there much, with all the phasing and doing patrols, we just went home to sleep.

We entered and everything was clean. Mom must have cleaned the house before going to the Cullens.

The first thing I did was have a shower because I reeked of vampire. I liked them, but they still smelled disgusting to me. After the shower, I went downstairs to eat something. I was starving! Mom must have read my mind because she was cooking.

"Baby, how are you feeling?"

"Good."

We stayed silent for a moment.

"So, everything's good with Charlie, right?"

"Excellent. He's really sweet. Maybe we should have a family dinner tonight. We could invite Billy too."

Just great! Not that I didn't like Billy. It was just that when he started talking, he never stopped... and it could make dinner a little _boring_?

"Oh, Leah! Before I forget, this letter came for you today." She handed me a yellow envelope.

I took it and read the sender. Holy crap! You have to be kidding me. This was something I hadn't expected.


	7. Chapter 6

**I want to thank BelleDean and ****beautiful. nightmare.****x**, my incredible betas who make my chapters look so clean and nice.

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**Chapter 6: Seattle here I go!**

"Holly crap! I managed to get in!" I breathed, clearly not believing what my eyes were seeing.

My hands were shaking, as I read the acceptance letter. It was too surreal. They couldn't have accepted me.

"I can't believe it," I mouthed.

"What is it, honey? You're trembling," my mom asked worriedly.

"Mom, look at this," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

I handed her the letter and she grabbed it quickly, her eyes eagerly scanning the page. After every line she read, her eyes seemed to glow brighter and brighter.

"Leah, you got a scholarship!" Mom screamed happily, picking me up of the floor and kissing me.

"Yeah," I sighed.

Mom looked at me, confused by the sigh.

"Hey, what's with the sigh? You got into a really good college, despite being a little bit late in applying. You're a strange child."

"Thanks, Mom."

I took back the letter and folded it carefully.

"Aren't you happy?" Mom asked.

"No, no. I'm really happy, it's just…I never imagined this would happen. I applied without giving it much thought. I didn't think I'd stand a chance at getting in," I mumbled.

Mom rolled her eyes, taking me back into her arms. She kissed the top of my head and looked at me again.

"You're going, right?"

"I have to talk to Jake and the boys first. They need me here."

"Leah, don't be silly. There are nine other boys that can phase into wolves, and you're not even going to be that far away."

"I don't know. I have to talk to them first," I mumbled.

"Well, honey, when will they be expecting you?"

I scanned through the letter, trying to find a date.

"Umm... 24th August," I replied.

Mom looked at the calendar on the wall, moving her index finger swiftly across the dates.

"24th August is in... it's in two days!" She shouted, clearly surprised.

I ran upstairs and I slung myself onto my bed, still clutching the acceptance letter to my chest. I still couldn't believe this was happening to me.

I sighed, thinking about the future ahead of me and I thought about my Dad. He was the one who convinced me to go to college, he wanted me to travel and meet different people and experience. At that moment, I was with Sam and my only future was next to him, here in La Push. But now, the only thing that kept me here was the pack. Mom was starting her new life with Charlie and didn't need me. And I guess Jake and the others would let me go. I wasn't going that far either, so if they needed me, they could call me and I'd be here in less than 5 hours.

That night I told the guys I wanted to talk to them so I invited them to dinner. During the whole meal mom kept dropping hints about college. I ignored her.

After dinner, mom, Charlie and Billy started reminiscing about the 'good old days.' I'd heard all the stories before so I took my chance and motioned to the boys to go into the living room.

Right now, I had the opportunity to tell them about the College acceptance. _Calm down, take a deep breath, and tell them about the letter._

"Guys, I've been accepted into college," I blurted out.

They stayed silent which was a bad sign; usually the guys weren't shy about voicing their opinions loudly.

"Guys, I-"

"Do you think you can manage not to get angry for every stupid thing?" Jake asked, looking bored.

"What?"

"Do you think you'll be able to stay calm and stay human after something pisses you off?"

_What the hell?_

I raised an eyebrow and glared at him.

"You see, you can't even have a conversation with me without getting all angry."

"You pissed me off, Black! Only you manage to make me angry all the time! I won't go all wolf-y over there. You really think I won't be able to control myself?"

"I know you will control yourself. I was just messing with you!" He grinned. "You can go, Leah. I don't know what you guys think of this, but I'm happy for you," Jake said.

"I'm glad too," Quil said.

"Hell yeah! Go to college," Embry said. "This is so cool. There'll be only men in the pack now," he whispered to Quil. "What about you Seth? What do you think?"

He was looking at me with that look fathers give when interrogating their daughters about boyfriends. "Where are you going to? How far away is it from here?"

"Seth, I'm going to Seattle. And I'm going to phase and keep in touch. I'll come and visit when I can. So stop going all protective on me."

He smiled and hugged me, accepting my decision.

* * *

Morning arrived as quickly as yesterday's evening ended. Suddenly, I wasn't looking so forward to it after all. I wanted to stay at home, with mom and Seth, in the comfort of my own bed, surrounded by people I was familiar with. For the first time in years, I was scared. I was starting a new life; a new experience, a new beginning. I didn't know what was going to happen to me.

I reluctantly got out of bed, feeling anxious and worried. After a quick shower, I went to the kitchen to get some breakfast.

Today was like any other day, except this time I was leaving.

"Good morning, honey. Did you sleep well?" Mom greeted me in the kitchen. She stayed in La Push the past two days to be with me.

I dragged my suitcase down and dropped it next to me on the floor, my jacket hanging over it.

"I sleep fine until the freaking alarm woke me up." I yawned.

Mom handed me a plate full of eggs and bacon and laughed at my comment. "Your dad was like that too. He never wanted to get out of bed. It was me that was ready and set for the new day."

There was an awkward silence that hung in the air. It was the first time mom had ever spoken so openly about dad, although she remembered him constantly. But now that she was a married woman again, it was kind of weird to listen to that.

"So... how are you feeling?" Mom asked me, as she sat down next to me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Alright, I suppose." I quietly spoke with a trace of anxiety.

"Hey, take it easy. It's your first day and you're not expected to be best buddies with everyone." She gave me an encouraging smile and picked up the plates, leaving them in the sink. She checked her watch and clapped her hands. "All right, I think we better get moving, otherwise you're going to be late." Mom was taking the day off to take me to Seattle.

"Is Seth still sleeping? I want to say bye to him because he probably won't ever forgive me if I don't/ He's been pestering me as it is with constantly asking if I'm going to miss him when I'm in college."

"He left early, after Charlie left. By the way, Charlie wanted to say bye to you but he had some work to do."

"Oh. Okay."

I pulled my suitcase along as mom went outside to open the trunk of the car. Before leaving, I looked once more around my house. I was going to miss it. When I opened the door, I was surprised to find everybody standing out there waiting for me. Seth, Jake, Quil, Embry, Emily, Charlie and... the Cullens?

"The elders let us pass the border line to say goodbye to you," Edward informed me.

Rosalie and Alice were the first to come running to me and hugged me.

"I'm going to miss you so much!" Alice whimpered. I knew that if vampires could cry she would be crying.

"Leah, my only advice is: find a hot guy and have fun with him, and the rest is going to be okay," Rosalie said with wink.

Emmett was the next one to approach me. He gave me one of his bear hugs and in a serious tone told me, "Leah, if you're going to have sex, use protection. I don't want you to get pregnant or get an STD." God, couldn't he think of anything else but sex?

Edward chuckled.

_Now I understand what you meant about not wanting to hear some thoughts._

He nodded.

I said my goodbyes to everyone. Mom unlocked the doors and told me to get in, while she attempted to shove my suitcase. Seth watched her for a while with amusement, before taking my luggage out of her hand and maneuvering it into the trunk effortlessly.

"Leah, I'm gonna miss you so much." He hugged me. "Remember to phase so we can see you're doing fine and chat." Seth truly was an overprotective little brother.

"Sure," I said. I hugged him once more, waved to the rest of the crowd and climbed into the car, waiting for mom to start the engine. I looked at her, there was probably a scared look in my eyes, because she suddenly touched my cheek and told me not to worry. As the car pulled out of the driveway, I looked back at the place I'd lived in all my life and waved my last goodbyes.

* * *

It was a very long trip. It took us about six hours to get there and I was absolutely knackered.

Mom parked in one of the empty spaces on the parking lot, and managed not to crash into anything.

We both got out of the car and mom opened the trunk and I took my suitcases.

"Honey, do you want me to come up with you, or are you okay with it?" I looked at her. I told her I was fine. God! Why did mothers always try to embarrass their children? Was it one of their missions? It wasn't like I was four years old and needed her to come to class with me because I was scared of Miss Peterson, who was a scary old woman.

"I'm fine. You should go back home and rest, you look tired."

"Thanks for telling me that," she chuckled. Suddenly, she hugged me tightly and kissed my forehead. I was a bit surprised at first and tried to push her off but then I hugged her back. I pulled away from her and started walking towards the intimidating school gates. She waved at me, blowing kisses. I made a face that must have been something like, 'Please get in the car and stop embarrassing me'. She climbed back into the car, and waited until I'd actually entered the school.

The gates were absolutely huge -tall, black, metal- something out of a horror movie. I slowly walked through them. I looked over my shoulder to take a good look at my mother. She waved at me from the car, and started up her engine. She drove to where the gates were and rolled down her window, to speak to me.

"Leah, don't worry about it. You will be just fine. Go out there and show them what you got, girl!" She encouraged me, raising her fist into the air.

I walked further onto the school grounds. In front of me was a huge building made out of white concrete and shiny glass. The buildings were surrounded by manicured lawns and paths snaked through the green grass to different build buildings.

After going to the registration office and having my schedule and room number, I walked into the dorms. I wheeled my suitcase to the room at the end of the hall. It wasn't big, but big enough to have three beds and desks. A little kitchen and another door that I guess led to the bathroom. There were also three wardrobes.

I found a goth girl -dark hair, blue eyes, pale skin, dark clothes and a lot of eyeliner- sitting at one of the desks looking at me.

"Hey," I said.

"Morgan," she said, pointing at herself. "Your bed's the one on the right." She pointed to the bed and returned to whatever she was doing.

I started unpacking my things. A girl wearing a mini skirt and a tight pink shirt walked into the room next. She had naturally flaxen hair and seemed too social in comparison to my other roommate, Morgan. She talked a lot, but didn't take a liking to me, I could tell. She looked at me like I didn't belong here, like I was somehow beneath them.

"I'm Brooke," the blonde said, as she looked at my clothes in disgust without trying to hide it.

There was a knock on the door. Brooke jumped up and answered it with a flip of her blond hair, "Hey boys!"

Great! I was stuck in a room with one completely anti-social freak and a girl who was apparently striving to win a popularity contest; neither of them seemed to like me. Not that I cared, but I felt lonely for the first time in my life.


	8. Chapter 7

******I want to thank BelleDean and ****beautiful. nightmare.****x** for helping me so much with this chapter. Best betas ever! :)

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**Chapter 7: Meeting the 'Hotties'**

Today was my first day of college and I felt so out of place. Everyone was looking at me oddly. Not that I could go unnoticed. When you are freakishly tall and dark, you might as well have a sign pinned to your forehead that says "Hey, look at me!" It also didn't help that I was _alone_ and didn't know anyone. Well, I knew my roommates, but let's say they weren't what I expected.

Morgan, the Goth girl, was too quiet. I don't even think Alice would manage to make her say more than two words. While Brooke, well, she was the typical girl that has many boy "friends." Yesterday, when I'd just arrived, two boys came to our room. Brooke likes to invite her "friends" to our dorm to "study" anatomy. Morgan and I had to leave the place, not because Brooke told us to leave, she actually didn't mind us being there, but because we felt uncomfortable.

I took a deep breath and entered the building where the corridors were full of people. On one side some girls –Brooke being one of them– were chatting about a party one of them was throwing tonight. On the other side of the hall, some guys were playing with a baseball ball, passing it from one to another. Another group was reading; I didn't know how they could concentrate with all the noise in the place. It was so loud that I couldn't hear my own thoughts.

Suddenly, everyone stopped what they were doing. Everything went silent and all eyes turned to the front door where a girl was coming into the building. She was gorgeous; tall and athletically slim, with long wavy dark brown hair and big friendly, brown eyes. She may have looked like a common girl, especially by the way she was dressed; light blue jeans and a tight yellow dress t-shirt that complemented her tanned skin. But there was some kind of aura surrounding her that made everyone glance at her a second time, sometimes even a third.

I was so focused on her that I wasn't paying attention to the guys who were playing with the ball. One of them had thrown it, but the other was to busy gawking at the girl to catch it.

I turned and saw the ball flying in my direction. I tried to move but it was almost in my face. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact. _3... 2... 1... _But it never happened. I opened my eyes and saw that the pretty girl was in front of me.

"Be careful, guys, or next time you could hurt someone," she said to the boys while throwing them the ball. Then she turned to me, smiled and walked away.

How did she get in front of me so fast? How was she able to catch it before it crashed into my face? I had super-fast reflexes and even I couldn't catch it, but she was behind me and she managed to. How could she do that? Was she a vampire? Well that could explain her inhuman beauty but she didn't smell like one...what was she then?

I walked to my English literature class. When I got inside the classroom, there were four guys and two girls, all talking about some girl sitting at the back of the room; I looked to the back and saw it was the girl from this morning, the one who'd just saved me from getting hit in the face by a fast approaching ball.

I went to sit down at the back as well; I didn't want to be in the front seats. She looked at me as I passed by and chose a seat behind her. She turned around to face me, pulled out her ear bud headphones and looked at me with a friendly smile.

"You should sit there," she said, pointing to the desk in front of hers.

"Thanks, but I'm fine here," I answered.

"Really, you should sit there. That desk's already taken."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't see anybody's name on it."

"Well, you can't say that I didn't warn you. Anyways, I'll reserve this seat for you if you change your mind," she said, pointing to the table she offered before, and turned to face the front mumbling to herself, "I just hope he's not moody; if he is, he'll scare her."

People started entering the room and taking their places, still continuing with their conversations. When the classroom was already filled, I heard a lot of girls giggling; I looked towards the door and saw the most handsome guy I'd ever seen. He was tall and well-built with short, dark-blonde hair and light blue eyes. He looked in my direction and smiled. _Was he smiling at me?_ But then the girl in front of me, whose name I discovered from listening to some conversations was Camille, turned her head up from what she was reading, and I realized that the sexiest guy alive was looking at her, not me. _Right!_ She was stunning and he was gorgeous, they made the perfect couple.

He sat down in the left chair next to Camille. I sighed loudly, making them both turn around to look at me. She smiled and continued reading the book she had in her hands, ignoring the guy that was frowning at me.

"You shouldn't sit there," he said angrily. I was taken aback. _Was he really angry because I was sitting here? What was with this desk?_

"Relax, Alex. You didn't mean to be that rude to her, did you?" Camille said worriedly. She sounded like she feared he would attack me or something, like if he would phase and bite me. "I've already warned her, so let it go! He can change his place for once. That will teach him to be here early."

I didn't want to listen to their argument over the damn seat, so I decided to listen to some music. I took out my iPod, put on the headphones and started listening to my music. I was so caught up in it that when someone tapped me on my shoulder, I almost jumped off of my seat. I looked up and saw _him_. If I thought Alex was sexy, this guy was even better in his own way. There was something about him that made him almost irresistible, drool worthy. Although Alex was nicer on the eyes, this man instead was something different, mysterious, and plain alluring. His eyes were the first thing I noticed. They were dark blue, the color of the ocean. I loved them. They reminded me of home, of First Beach, of La Push. His blue eyes felt piercing, and he honestly was scaring me, but I couldn't look away. Maybe it was his dark brown hair that hung perfectly on his head, or the way his shirt complemented his well built chest and his tanned skin. Whatever it was, I couldn't tear my eyes off of him. There was something about him. It was like I'd seen him somewhere before...

I was brought back to reality by someone clearing his throat and noticed that the guy was looking at me, and he looked angry. There was another girl and a boy next to him. They were beautiful too; all of them could have been models. The girl was tall and slim. She had shoulder length curly black hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a denim skirt and a white blouse that complemented her tanned skin. The boy was tall and well-built. He had short light blonde hair and beautiful green eyes that went ell with his golden skin tone. He was wearing dark jeans and a blue shirt.

"Excuse me, you're sitting in my seat. Move somewhere else," he ordered. His voice was soft and husky.

I was going to stand up to do what he told me, but wait, what was wrong with me? I was here first so why should I move? He could go sit down somewhere else!

"I'm sorry but I can't find your name anywhere here! I think your ass can get used to another seat." The beautiful girls and boys glanced first at me with wide eyes and then at the Greek god standing in front of me. He continued staring at me, but I didn't flinch. He didn't give up, and neither did I.

"Nick, please, sit here. She was there first. You can take my seat if you want, but let her sit there, please," Camille pleaded. "Sit down, please, before you regret doing something you don't want to. You're not in the mood to argue with anyone today. Just leave it, please."

He growled and sat on the chair in front of hers. He was gone but I could still feel the others watching me.

Soon after the 'desk argument', the class started. The teacher was an old man who seemed to be nice. He wrote some stuff on the board and said we could work in pairs. The girl that was sat on my right asked me if I wanted to be her partner. Since I didn't know anybody in the class, I agreed to work with her. While we worked together, my partner, whose name was Amanda, told me about Literature class, but I wasn't paying much attention, I still had the feeling that I was being watched by a pair of blue eyes.

Amanda and I were together again in History, which was the last class before lunch. Fortunately, I had no more classes with the _group of hotties_. When the lesson was over, Amanda and I went to the cafeteria. She said I could sit with her and her friends. We walked towards a table where some boys and girls were talking.

"Guys, I want you to meet Leah. She's from La Push, a reservation near Forks. Leah, these are Noel, Julian, Reba, Melissa and Joe," she said, pointing to each of them.

"Hi, Leah," Noel, Julian and Joe said in unison. The girls were staring at me. It seemed that they didn't like me much. They said hi, but not in a very welcoming way.

I sat in between Amanda and Julian -who was looking at me like I was a piece of meat. He was the cutest of all the boys at the table, but he was nothing compared to the guy from this morning... Nick. His beauty was ethereal and I was hypnotized by his gaze. At first I thought I had imprinted on him, but luckily I didn't. I wasn't a fan of imprinting, I didn't want to be owned by a guy, let alone one with such a bad temper as Nick seemed to have. When you imprinted you became the imprintee's slave and I wanted to fall in love normally. I knew that when you imprinted it was forever. Call me a masochist, but I wanted someone who saw my defects, someone that was with me because he wanted to, not because of some stupid spell or whatever imprinting was.

I was eating a hamburger, after I'd finished eating a plate of pasta and chicken, when the door of the cafeteria opened and there they were. The _hotties_ -Nick, Alex, Camille, the boy and girl from my morning lit class, plus another boy and a tiny girl.

Amanda and Julian sighed dreamily at the same time while the rest of the cafeteria just watched them, hypnotized by this group of gorgeous men and women that were too beautiful to be ignored. I sighed in frustration. Okay, they were attractive and all, but really? Did people stop whatever they were doing for them?

Amanda turned around and looked at me. "Leah, don't tell me you think they aren't attractive? I once thought I was lesbian because I wanted to be with any of those girls." She then proceeded to tell me about them, while they were walking to their table. "Noah was the guy sitting next to you in Literature, the blond with green eyes. He's very calm and quiet. Next to him, there's Alex, the blond with blue eyes. He's the most attractive of the four boys in appearance and he may give you the impression that he's a typical player, but he hasn't dated or flirted with anyone here," she said. "Then, there's Camille, the one who sat in front of you today. She's the nicest of them all. Next to her is Kara. She's pretty too, but not very polite to people. In front of her is Elliott. He's even worse than Kara. He gets angry very easily. If you don't want any problems with him you better never talk to him. He's hot but I must warn you that he flirts with every girl in college, so if he ever makes a move on you, remember that he's probably said the same to 20 other girls on that same day. He is always with April, the girl next to him. She somehow makes him relax whenever he's tense. She's a nice girl, very sweet and sociable, very similar to Camille."

Elliott reminded me of Emmett, physically. He was tall and huge, like a wall. He had short black hair and brown eyes. And April was short, very short. I think she was even shorter than Alice. She had long straight black hair and beautiful grey eyes. And they both were as beautiful as the others in that group.

"And the last one is Nicholas, the hottest guy alive."

"He's not that hot," I interrupted her.

"Well, the first one you notice is always Alex, but if you look carefully at Nicholas, he's definitely the hottest of them all. He is sexy in a mysterious way. All the school girls will agree with me that he's got something that makes him irresistible and makes him even sexier than Alex, or any other boys. And that mysterious aura helps him get any girl he wants. Girls are all around him all the time. You're lucky you don't like him because he's a player. Every day he has a different girlfriend. He doesn't speak much but when he does, he has you hypnotized forever. And the girls he's dated are not mad at him for being used; they even try to seduce him just to be with him again."

"Well, not that I needed you to tell me all this, but I think he's not that hot, so I won't have any trouble falling for him. That won't happen."

"Leah, although he can be a jerk sometimes, he's still hot. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones. All the girls he's dated are brunettes with brown eyes," she informed me. I looked in his direction and he was looking at me. Well, glaring at me. I quickly looked away.

"Leah, are you okay?" Amanda asked.

No. "Yes, I'm fine. I doubt he'll be interested in me. And looking at the girls he's hanging out with, I would never be one of those girls he likes. I mean why doesn't he date Camille? She's his type, right?"

"I don't know. Maybe he likes her, I mean he's always with her and he's very protective about her, maybe they're dating but wants to keep it secret." I nodded at the possibility. "...but he's always with a different girl. Maybe he doesn't want to date anyone in the pack group."

"Pack?"

"Well, every time I look at them they kind of remind me of wolves. I know it's silly, but you know that feeling. Always together, protecting one another from the rest, they seemed to be always synchronized. I don't know...they seem like wolves to me."

Ha! If she only knew what it was like to be in a wolf pack…

But now that she mentioned that, they did seem kind of inhuman. In fact, my first reaction to Camille was to think she could be a vampire. They had unnatural beauty like vampires and today Camille caught that ball and she was behind me... but they didn't stink. If they were vamps I would have smelled them. Or maybe it was just in my head; I'd seen too many supernatural things to think of them as human?


	9. Chapter 8

**Once again, this chapter looks clean and better thanks to my two incredible Betas: ********BelleDean and ****beautiful. nightmare.****x**

**********Enjoy the reading!**

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**Chapter 8: Meeting the 'Hotties' pt. 2**

There they were, talking and smiling, immersed in their own conversation, unaware of the stares people were giving them. There wasn't a single person in college who didn't want to be their friend. Girls tried hard to get noticed by the boys, and boys tried everything to get the girls to notice them. But all I could do was try to figure out what made them so different. Why was I so drawn to them, just like every other student at the school?

I glanced at the two people sitting on my table. Amanda and Julian had become my constant companions during lunchtime. They were really nice, if a bit too chatty at times. They'd been showing me around since I'd arrived, trying to make me feel like I belonged which I was grateful for. Although they weren't in the same league as the Hotties, I noticed that they had their own drooling fan club. Amanda was a small girl with long red curls, big green eyes and a cute little nose covered with freckles. She could make boys blush with a bat of her eyelashes and her coquettish smile. Julian, on the other hand, was tall with a physique of a swimmer, dark messy hair and green eyes. His appearance definitely put him on the top ten list of guys every girl (and maybe even some boys) wanted to date.

I checked my watch. I had fifteen minutes left before my next class started, so I needed to start moving if I didn't want to get lost and be late again.

For the first time since I arrived, I managed to get to class on time. The classroom was still empty when I entered. After deliberating on where to sit, I chose a desk in the middle of the room, although I was still hesitant about sitting down. After my first day's 'desk incident' with Nick, I was a little scared of sitting down on any chair to be honest. As I worried about my seating choice, the door swung open and in walked none other than Nick. _Speak of the Devil._ I didn't remember him being in this class last week.

He swept his eyes around the empty room and came over to sit down at the desk next to mine. He glanced at me, but when he saw I was looking at him, he quickly redirected his gaze toward the door. The two of us sat next to each other in silence which was making me feel very uncomfortable. Why the hell did he have to sit next to _me_? The room was empty, he could have sat wherever he wanted...but no, he had to go and sit at the desk next to mine! It was like this was bound to happen, of course, Murphy's Law, everything that could go wrong would go wrong.

From the corner of my eye I caught him staring at me again. I turned my face to look at him and our eyes met. We just sat there looking at each other. He opened his mouth to say something but then he closed it without making a single sound.

_Maybe I should introduce myself? _I was about to say something when the door flew open again and in walked April, Camille and Noah. They looked shocked to see us next to each other in an empty classroom. Camille looked from Nick to me and immediately smiled. The three newcomers chose seats in front of me and Nick and sat down.

I looked down at my notebook and started drawing, feeling embarrassed and slightly awkward. They didn't just catch us sitting next to each other in an empty room, but they also caught us staring as well. Now the others would just think I was another one of those desperate girls who wanted Nick's attention.

When I looked up from my notebook, I saw the three in front of me shaking their heads, like they were having some sort of mental conversation. One glance at Nick told me that he was also part of the conversation, on occasion shaking his head and frowning.

Camille turned around and smiled at me. "We shared some classes together last week but we've never been introduced. I'm Camille," she said, extending her hand out for me to shake it.

"Leah," I answered while we shook hands. She was hot. Rephrase that, her _temperature_ was hot, slightly hotter than my own. That was weird, impossible.

"Nice to meet you, Leah. This is Noah, and that's April," she said, pointing to her friends. "And I think you've already met Nick." He glared at Camille, completely ignoring me. She reciprocated with a death glare of her own which caused him to look away.

It seemed like he was in love with her, the look in his eyes when she glared at him was full of hurt. Maybe that was why they weren't dating? She rejected him, and he dated as many girls as possible to either get over her or make her jealous?

Camille interrupted my inner musings by asking me, "So how are you liking college so far? Where are you from?"

"It's okay, I guess. I'm from La Push, a reservation near Forks."

I normally wouldn't be this friendly with somebody that I'd just met, but there was something about her that made me trust her.

"Well, welcome to college. If you ever need help please ask us. We'll be happy to help you." While Noah, April and Camille were smiling, Nick was frowning.

Camille seemed to notice the tension between us. "Leah, are you staying on campus?"

"Yes."

"Great! Why don't we hang out today?" she asked.

"No! She can't come with us!" Nick shouted. Camille raised an eyebrow at him. "She may have to do a lot of unpacking and studying, right? She's only been here for a week. I'm sure she's got a lot to catch up with," he said, looking at me hard.

_What was his problem? _"Actually, I would _love_ to hang out with you," I answered just to show Nick I wasn't afraid of him.

He was going to say something but was interrupted when people started entering the classroom and the lesson started soon after.

Instead of listening to the lecturer, my mind was somewhere else, thinking about Nick and his attitude. One moment he seemed to be a likeable person and then he changed into an asshole. And why couldn't I stop thinking about him? Since we met, I always seemed to wonder about the same thing: Nick. His gorgeous blue eyes, his enticing scent, his manliness, his strong arms, his full lips…

_Enough!_ I mentally slapped myself. What was I thinking? There was no time to daydream about his forest and vanilla scent or how nice his lips would feel against mine. If by any chance I was interested in him, which I wasn't, I would be wasting my time. He wouldn't ever be interested in me. Not that I cared what he thought about me, but I really didn't understand his attitude towards me. Was he still pissed that I stole his place the other day? I mean, okay, I normally got pissed over the littlest things, but come on, it was just a desk! That was the stupidest reason to get pissed over, and I'd heard a lot of stupid reasons.

When class was over, I found Camille and April waiting for me outside the room. They gave me their cell numbers and told me to call them. We walked together to the exit and then our ways separated. I was walking alone to my dorm when someone grabbed my wrist. I turned around to find Nick. He pushed me against a wall and leaned closer to me until his lips were touching my ear.

"If you know what's good for you, stay away from us," he threatened in a low, husky voice that sent shivers down my spine. He took a step back from me and walked away, leaving me there leaning against the wall with shaky legs, wondering what the hell he meant by that.

Why the hell did he act like that? And hell if he thinks he scared me! If he thought I was going to stop talking to them just because he had a little problem with me, then he didn't know who he was dealing with. And now, more than ever, I was going to be everywhere just to piss him off, starting that same evening.

I went to Camille's dorm a few hours after my encounter with Nick, in hope of finding out what his problem against me was. I planned to start off with just asking her for some of the literature notes. I knocked on the door and one of the girls who was always with Camille opened it.

"Yes?"

"I-"

"Are you lost or something?" she asked annoyed.

"Is Camille here?"

"Kara, who is it?" Camille's voice shouted from somewhere inside and a moment later she appeared at the door. "Leah! Kara, this is Leah. Let her in."

I entered the dorm and saw the other 'hotties' were there too, including Nick.

"Leah, what brings you here?" Camille asked excitedly.

"I wanted-"

"Were you looking for me, gorgeous?" The huge brunette asked.

"Shut up, Elliott! Ignore him! What can we do for you?" Camille asked again.

"I came to ask you for some of the Literature class' notes."

"Of course. Wait here, I'll be right back." She went to what I guessed was her room.

I looked around. This place was way bigger than my room. Whereas I lived in a small studio with two roommates, they had an actual living room and separate bedrooms.

"Hot stuff, you're new here, right?" the guy called Elliott asked. "If you ever want to have a nice time just look for me, I'll stop doing whatever I'm doing for you." He winked at me. Amanda was right about him, this guy thought only with his penis.

"Well, you've already met Noah, Nick and April." April waved excitedly at me. "This is Alex." He nodded his head. "Kara and Elliott," she said, pointing to the other students relaxing on the sofa.

"Nice to meet you all. Thanks for the notes. I probably should be going," I said.

"Why don't you stay? We're about to watch a movie," Camille said.

I looked at Nick, and to my surprise he wasn't glaring at me, actually, he had a weird look in his eyes, I wasn't sure what it was. I was going to say that I needed to leave, but I was dragged toward one of the sofas, and ended up sitting down between April and Elliott. I didn't pay much attention to the movie, because I could feel a pair of blue eyes staring at me the whole time.


	10. Chapter 9

**Special thanks to my awesome ****Betas: beautiful. nightmare.x and BelleDean. And thanks for all the readers that take the time to review.**

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**Chapter 9: This was war!**

I was sat waiting outside the building for Camille and April to arrive as they had made me promise to have lunch with them today. It had been more than a week since I'd spent the evening with the hotties, watching a movie, eating pizza, and bonding with them. It gave me the feeling of being back in La Push with the pack boys. That special union I felt floating in the air when I was around them was bizarre seeing as I had never had this kind of relationship with anybody apart from the pack in my entire life.

We'd been hanging out from time to time last week, in between and after classes but today was the first time they had invited me to have lunch with them. They were all really nice people. Well, everyone except for Nick. That guy was definitely hormonal or something. He kept changing his attitude towards me like Alice changed clothes. The other day, I thought he was glad I was there with them, but as soon as the movie was over, he started with that pain in the ass attitude of his again.

While I was waiting for the girls to come, Amanda walked by and sat down next to me.

"Hi, Leah! Waiting for someone special?" she asked with a wink, elbowing me playfully.

I shook my head.

"Anyone asked you out yet?"

"What?"

"Come on, Leah! You're very pretty. No, you're gorgeous. I guess lots of boys have asked you out by now."

"Um...no," I replied.

"Okay. Then you'll be glad to know that Julian hasn't spoken about anyone but you lately." She smiled.

I raised an eyebrow.

"He's cute, he's funny, and he's smart. You two will make an incredibly cute couple, don't you think?"

"He's cute but-"

"Oh, you like him too! This is great!" Amanda shouted excitedly, interrupting me.

"Who does she like?" A voice from behind Amanda asked. It was Camille, or Cammie, as she preferred to be called. The rest of the gang were behind her, walking toward us.

Amanda was at a loss for words for a moment but immediately found them and said, "Julian and Leah. They like each other."

"What? You can't date _him_!" Nick shouted, looking directly at me.

"It's none of your business, but just to make it clear, I never said I liked him, I just said he was cute. I don't want to date him," I explained.

"Good," he mumbled.

_What? _"Why do you care anyway?"

"I don't care. I-" he started saying but was cut off by Julian who was walking toward us.

"Hi, Leah, Amanda! Hi-" He saw the others and was rendered momentarily mum like Amanda had done before, but soon recovered and looked in my direction, not noticing that Nick ooked like he was ready to jump onto him.

Cammie noticed the look on Nick's face so she quickly asked, "Leah, are you coming to lunch?" whilst grabbing Nick and taking him with her.

I nodded and followed with Julian and Amanda behind them.

"Wow!" Amanda breathed.

Once Nick and the rest of the gang entered the cafeteria, Amanda turned to me before we got into the building.

"Are you friends with them now?" Amanda asked. "They've almost never talked to other people, let alone invite them to lunch."

"Oh, last week I needed some notes and I went to the girls' room and-"

"You what?" she asked.

I told them that I went to their room to ask for the Literature notes and that I ended up spending the evening with them.

"You're different, Leah," Amanda said. _You have no idea… _"I mean, this is the first time they've show this much interest in someone. They talked to you, they invited you to their room, you're having lunch with them, they talk to you…"

"You've already said that," Julian pointed out.

When we entered the cafeteria, they went to their table and I walked toward the food. While waiting for my turn to grab my food, I glanced around the cafeteria. I saw Amanda, smiling and giving me the thumbs up. _Mental note: Find Amanda a life._ She was obsessed with the hotties, but she had a point. They were very interesting people. At first sight you just saw the extremely beautiful people they were, but once you knew them a little more, you could see they not only had the beauty but also personalities and qualities that made them unique.

Kara was the sporty girl in the group. She was very strong and athletic which had helped her become team captain of some of the sports teams. Her sarcastic nature gave the image of a strong girl that didn't care about anything, but once you looked beyond her pretty façadeyou could see that she was very protective of her friends.

Camille had the most beautiful features I'd ever seen. Her beauty resembled her personality. She was extremely understanding and comforting. I couldn't imagine anyone hating her because she was one of those girls that you loved from square one.

April was the artist, always doodling in her books or creating stuff with paper or whatever she was in possession of. It was incredible to see her create such beautiful things with whatever she had at hand. It was like watching an artistic MacGyver. She was very similar to Camille, always smiling and cheerful.

Alex was the joker, although when the situation needed it, he was the most serious in the group. He tended to be oblivious sometimes, especially when it came to people liking him. April told me that once a girl named Candra liked him, and asked him out tons of times, but he thought she meant as a group, no matter how many hints she dropped. He was extremely spontaneous, and was never afraid to speak his mind.

Elliott was the player and the hot-head of the group. He reminded me a lot of Paul when he hadn't imprinted on Rachel, although Elliott was nicer when you were alone with him while Paul was a jerk 24/7. He tended to speak before thinking which would get him into a lot of trouble or given some weird looks as some of his sentences didn't make sense as he hadn't run them through his mind first.

Noah was the patient and smart one in the group. My first thought about him was that he was the typical smart guy that only talked about science and politics just to make the rest look and feel stupid but he wasn't that kind of genius guy. Behind the lab coat there was a regular man, funny in his own way and such a cutie.

And then, there was Nick...he was the charmer of the group. He could pretty much get any girl he asked for just by snapping his fingers. He was that good looking. His brown hair, combined with his blue eyes was exactly what got me going whenever I saw him. The guy was so fantastic looking that he could send you into fever if he wanted to...but he was a jerk.

When you stopped looking at their model faces, you could read them like a book. If anybody paid a little more attention to their inside they would have seen all that.

I paid for my food and walked toward the hotties' table, I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice Nick coming toward me and walking right into me, causing me to drop the tray with all my food onto my clothes.

"Oops! I'm sorry, I didn't see you," he lied.

"What's your fucking problem?" I yelled. He was really getting the worst out of me. I didn't know how I managed to stay human, because all I wanted was to phase and rip his head off.

"_You_. You're my problem. I told you to stay away from us," he whispered angrily.

Cammie ran toward us. "Nick, look what you've done to her! Leah, you better go and change, and you go help her," she ordered. "I'll go grab something for you to change into."

I went to the bathroom, Nick following me. He didn't care that it was the ladies bathroom, he entered anyway. He took a paper towel, wet it and then started to rub it onto my t-shirt.

"I can do it by myself. Besides, after your threat, I don't really want your help in the first place," I said.

Nick smirked and took a step toward me. I took one back which ended up with me being backed up right against the wall. I gulped once as Nick stopped right in front of me and leaned his face down next to my ear.

"That was nothing, sweetheart. You have no idea what's in store for you," he whispered, his breath tickling my ear, causing me to shiver slightly.

"Don't call me sweetheart," I ordered. Clearly he didn't think it was a big deal and repeated it into my ear, making me shiver even more. Then I did something that surprised me. I shoved him.

He raised an eyebrow at me and started walking toward me again. I held a hand out in front of me so that I was pushing against his chest.

"Will you stop doing that? Stop flirting!" I snapped.

"I'm not flirting," he objected. "I'm just playing with your mind until you crack, and clearly it's working."

"What? With the sweetheart and all? That's what you think will make me crack?" I scoffed. "You'll need more than that, Nick. I'm a hard bitch."

I saw the smug smirk on his face replaced with a much more determined look. He came up to me again, hugged me tightly and started to lean closer to my face but immediately pushed me away when the bathroom door opened and Camille walked inside with a t-shirt in her hand.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't know you two were-" She seemed nervous. "Here," she said, handing me a blue t-shirt.

She walked out of the bathroom and Nick followed her soon after. I changed into the clean shirt and walked back to the cafeteria.

There was already a tray waiting for me on the table.

"I hope you like chicken and mashed potatoes." April smiled at me.

Nobody seemed to enjoy lunch, which consisted of Nick glaring at me, neither of us eating a thing, and the others finally figuring out that we didn't get along.

I sat near a window as it started to rain, watching how the rain drops fell and crashed against the ground. I smiled and decided to go outside. I loved the feeling of rain running across my body. I lifted my palms up and opened my eyes to stare at the grey sky. This reminded me of home. La Push was always shadowed by grey clouds and it rained all the time. Since I was a little girl I had enjoyed the rain.

"Are you insane?" a male voice called out.

I sighed and turned to see Nick leaning casually against the door, watching me.

"Maybe."

He smirked. "What's a foolish girl like you doing?"

"I think the question is…why aren't _you_ playing in the rain?"

He laughed once and smirked at me. _What the hell was with him and that stupid smirk?_

"I don't want to get all wet and soggy."

_Oh, he has no idea what a great suggestion he just gave me! It was time for me to smirk._ I kicked at a puddle, causing the water to hit Nick. I started laughing. He grabbed my arm and pulled me around so I was facing him.

"What the hell was that for?"

I didn't avoid his gaze and stared at him. "Take your hands off of me." He only tightened his grip. "God, you're such a baby. It wasn't on purpose, idiot." Yes it was. "It's not my fault you were in the direction the water went. I wasn't aiming for you. Don't be such an ass about it."

"You just think you're so damn clever, don't you? Well, you're not."

I slammed my foot down on his and he let go of my arm. And then I walked away.

I needed to change my clothes _again_.

We were having dinner in a nearby pub. Lots of the college students were there, drinking beers, playing pool, watching the game or playing cards.

I was sitting at a table in the middle of the room with the hotties. I sighed. His eyes were on me, sending invisible balls of fire. I tried to ignore him, but just knowing he was staring at me made me want to glare back at him.

"Leah, you want another drink?" Noah asked me. I shook my head. "Nick, you want another drink?" I looked at Nick, and he was still glaring at me, ignoring the question. Didn't he ever get tired of being such an ass? He stopped when Noah nudged him in the ribs. He stood up, and followed the blonde to grab some drinks.

"Hi, Leah!" the nervous voice of Julian come from behind me.

"Hey, Julian. What's up?"

"I-I was...I was wondering if you wanted to...um, go Friday night to have dinner with me?"

"I-"

At that precise moment, the two boys arrived with the drinks. Nick sat down next to me and looked at Julian, analyzing him like an Alpha did when a stranger got close to his pack.

"Just like friends, you know? Not a date if you don't want to," Julian added nervously.

"Sure…" I answered.

"Friday at eight then. Is that okay with you?"

I nodded. Julian smiled and rushed to his table.

I turned to look at Nick, his eyes turned to daggers as they landed on me, his jaw tightening. He looked so dangerous and sexy at the same time. I smiled, thinking that he was pissed I was going on date with Julian. I was enjoying this moment of victory until Brooke, my roommate, with her mini-skirt and a shirt that looked like a bra came to our table.

"Hi, Nick!" she said flirtatiously. 'Oh, hey you.' She nodded, looking my way for a second and turning back to him.

I rolled my eyes and Nick smiled in satisfaction at my reaction. He then looked back at her and started flirting with her, no holding back.

Nick only dated brown-haired girls...then why was he flirting with Brooke? Well, she had dyed her hair brown when she found out Nick liked brunettes. This only proved the power this guy had on women.

I felt something strange in my stomach. It was really bothering me and it only happened whenever Nick touched Brooke. It must have been something I'd eaten which caused the reaction. I was sure it was that…or was it something else? No, there was no way I was jealous. No way! I didn't feel anything for him. I mean, yes, he was attractive, very attractive, but all he made me feel was hate towards him.

"So, Friday at 8? You better be on time. I'll be waiting for you. My room's 236. See you later." Brooke winked at him and left to return back to her table.

Nick turned to me. "Guess I'll be seeing you at your room when I come to pick up my date on Friday," he told me with that stupid smirk plastered on his face.

The reaction in my stomach was bigger this time. I shouldn't have eaten that sandwich. I looked at him. He was going on a date with Brooke…why her? My mind started imagining Nick and Brooke kissing passionately. Hell no! This couldn't be happening to me. I refused to let this happen! I refused to be jealous! No, no, no, and no. Oh Lord, who was I kidding? I was jealous. Was I really falling for Nick?


	11. Chapter 10

**Once again, thanks to my Super Betas -BelleDean and .x- for their help.**

**Enjoy the reading!**

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**Chapter 10: The unsuccessful date.**

_**Friday...**_

After an exhausting week of fighting, glaring, hating and more fighting with Nick, Friday finally arrived. Brooke and I were waiting in our dorm for our dates to pick us up. Our expectations about these dates were completely different. I was going out with a friend, so I didn't try dressing up to impress him, wearing only a pair of dark blue jeans, a black dress shirt, and sneakers. Brooke, on the other hand, was ready to kill. It was obvious the girl wanted Nick. She was wearing a mini mini-skirt that looked more like a belt than a skirt, and a tight corset that made her boobs look bigger. She looked like a stripper, but I wasn't the one going out on a date with her. Nick was, so he was the one to judge whether she looked like a slut or not…_Maybe that's what he liked?_

For some reason, the mere thought of them dating made my blood boil. My body ached to let the wolf out and rip this girl's head off. But I needed to relax. Brooke was doing me a favor, Nick wasn't the one for me. In fact, they were perfect for each other.

"Do you think I should change the skirt into a shorter one?" Brooke's irritating voice asked.

What did Nick see in her? I mean, she wasn't that pretty, and well, maybe she had a nice body but she was insufferable, fake and ungraceful.

There was a knock on the door. _Thank God!_ Brooke opened it and there was Nick. She let him come in and I took a good look at him. He looked nice. He was wearing light blue jeans and a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up, revealing his strong forearms.

When he saw Brooke his eyes widened but not in the 'Wow, she looks hot' way, it was more like 'What the hell are you wearing?' kind of way. I chuckled at his face, making him turn to me. When our eyes met, his softened as they ran down my body. Brooke noticing this, leaned closer to his face and kissed him right in front of me.

Suddenly he pulled away**, **saw that I was pissed and smirked.

"Where are you taking me, baby?" Brooke asked seductively.

"Um, I don't know yet." He still looked at me with that stupid smirk on his face.

"Can we go to the cinema and then have dinner?" she asked, grabbing his arm and trying to take him outside.

"I don't know. Watch a movie, and grab some dinner? Why don't we just stay here?"

Oh boy! I guess the furthest they were going tonight was to her bed. Brooke seemed to like the idea.

There was another knock on the door and I ran to open it. It was Julian. He looked…nice, I guess. His usually messy brown hair was combed neatly. He was wearing black jeans and a green t-shirt that complimented his green eyes.

"Hi, Leah! Wow, you look nice! Ready for a movie and dinner?"

"Let's go!" I grabbed my coat and started to head out of the room when...

"Wait, we're going with you. We're also going to see a movie and then eat. We can go together in my car," Nick offered.

"What? You said you didn't want to-" Brooke started to complain but Nick put his hand over her mouth to shut her up.

"Thanks for offering but I was thinking of walking to the cinema. It's not so far away from camp-"

"I insist we should go in my car," Nick cut Julian off, pushing us all out of the room.

The date only got worse from that moment on. After an awkward time at the cinema where Nick managed to sit me in between him and Brooke, we exited the movie theater.

"Do you want to go grab something to eat, Leah?" Julian asked, holding my hand.

"That's a good idea!" Nick answered and separated Julian from me.

"Um, I was inviting only Le-" Julian started saying but was cut off by Nick.

"Oh, man! I'm hungry too!"

"Nick, they want to go alo-" Brooke started but Nick cut her off with his hand over her mouth again.

Suddenly Julian's cell phone started to ring.

"Hello. Yes, I'm Julian Chains. What? Is she okay? I'll be there in ten minutes." He hung up and looked at me. "Leah, I have to go. My mother's been in an accident and I need to go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay…"

"Sorry! Bye." He kissed me on the cheek and left.

I turned around and saw Brooke trying to kiss Nick but he was pushing her away.

"Um, I'll be heading back to campus then," I said.

"No! Why don't you come with us to eat something?" Nick offered. Well, it sounded more like a plea than an offer.

"I don't want to ruin your date…"

"You won't! I don't want you to go walking alone at night, it's dangerous."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"I insist. I know there are a lot of pervs that take advantage of lonely girls and I wouldn't like to leave you unprotected."

"Nick, let's go. Leah can take care of herself," Brooke said, glaring at me.

"No, she's coming with us," he ordered.

A few minutes later, we were sitting at a nice restaurant. Brooke went to the bathroom, leaving Nick and me alone. He was sitting on the chair next to mine. This brought some memories of our encounter in the empty classroom. I looked at him and he was staring at me with an unknown emotion in his eyes.

"What?" I asked rudely.

"Nothing."

We stayed in silence for a moment.

"Why are you doing this to me?" I asked.

"Doing what?"

"You know. Inviting me here. You're on a date with Brooke. You're just trying to make me jealous, right?"

"Are you jealous?" he asked, leaning closer to me.

"Pfft! No!" _Yes._ "Don't avoid my question. Am I here so you can make fun that I have no date?"

"No, actually it's because I wan-" He was cut off by Brooke coming back to the table.

_***30 Minutes Later***_

_Please, God, let me just sink into the floor and vanish! This can't get any more humiliating…_

While Nick and Brooke were laughing, talking about their lives and flirting, I was just sitting there, listening to whatever stupid stuff Brooke had to say. I felt so out of place, I should have never agreed to this, I lamented on my seat feeling uncomfortable. Every time she touched him, my blood started to boil, and he noticed that it bothered me, so he encouraged it by smiling at her and touching her back.

_Why couldn't this night end already?_

"I'll be right back," I said getting up from my seat.

Nick and Brooke finally stopped talking and looked up at me.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked.

"Bathroom," I answered.

I zig zagged my way to the bathroom, pushed open the door and went over to the sink. I looked at myself in the mirror. _What was I doing here?_ I turned on the water and washed my face.

I walked out into the crowd of people and made my way to my table. I was about ten feet away from them, when I saw Brooke kissing Nick, and he was kissing her back. Something inside of me twisted. I suddenly felt a rush of sadness and my eyes started to sting. I noticed Nick looking up at me and his eyes grew wide.

"Leah!" I couldn't face him, not in this state. I turned around and ran out of the restaurant and into the night. I didn't care where I was going, just as long as I was away from him.

I kept running until my legs hurt. I looked around at my surroundings. I had ended up in the forest behind campus.

I walked over to a big rock that was in between some trees and sat on it.

_What was happening to me? Why?_ I buried my face in my hands and I kept telling myself to stop feeling this way, but that didn't happen. I didn't know what hurt more, the fact that he was kissing her or that I was feeling like this over it.

I promised myself never to be fooled by a guy again, and I arrived here and what happened? I think I fell for him. How did that happened? _When_ did that happen?

I sat up straight inhaling the fresh air. I needed to phase and let the animal control my mind. The animal was going to help me stop feeling. That was what I needed.

I took off my clothes and phased. The transformation was a relief to my senses. The wolf gave us some kind of freedom of our human feelings, we still felt every emotion, but in a less intense way.

I ran for a while, enjoying the peace in my mind. But my harmony soon ended when I started thinking about Nick and Brooke. It was pointless, not even in my wolf form could I stop thinking about him.

I phased back. When I was changing into my clothes in the middle of the forest, I felt like someone was watching me. But it was a ridiculous. No one would come into the woods in the middle of the night. I dismissed that idea, but then there was a noise in the bushes nearby me. I looked around, waiting for some rabbit or little woodland creature to run out of the bushes, but my eyes widened in shock when out of nowhere, a human figure started to run away from me.

_Oh fuck! Someone saw me…in my wolf form!_


	12. Chapter 11

**Special t****hanks to my Betas -BelleDean and beautiful. nightmare.x- for their help.**

**Enjoy the reading!**

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**Chapter 11: Dreaming about...**

I ran, following whoever it was. I wasn't going to sit down and do nothing. If there was any way to find this person and try to convince them they were hallucinating or crazy, I would. But who was I kidding? This complete stranger saw me phasing back… _How could I be so stupid? How could I let this happen? If they recognized me, my secret would be exposed._

The human who'd seen me phase was sprinting, escaping the freak show he or she had just witnessed. I still couldn't clearly make out whether it was a man or a woman who was suddenly making a right turn. I pushed my legs harder and reached a dead end street, but instead of catching a glimpse of the stranger, there was no one in sight. _How could anyone disappear so fast? And where to?_

I walked the deserted streets back to college after having a look around, trying to find a scent or something that could lead me to this stranger, but I found nothing but deserted streets. Despite the fact that I couldn't find anybody, I soon got the creepy feeling that someone was following me…

The sound of footsteps was getting closer and closer. _What if this was the person from before, coming back to kidnap me? What if it was some crazy scientist who was willing to make me their new lab rat?_

I seriously needed to stop being so paranoid. For God's sake, if anybody tried to attack me I could defend myself. I was slightly stronger than a normal human boy, and I could phase into a gigantic wolf! So why did I feel like whoever this was could defeat me easily? Most of the time I felt like the hunter, but since I arrived here I'd felt like the prey.

I kept walking. After each step I took, I felt like there was another step taken right behind me. _Just keep walking._ Maybe there had been no one watching me before. Maybe no one was following me at all. Maybe I was just paranoid for no reason. That was it! I'd look back and I'd see that no one was behind me. I quickly turned around, only to see a tall figure walking fast towards me.

_Holy crap!_

I turned around and increased my pace. My fast walk then became a jog.

I heard loud footsteps coming up behind me. Then I felt someone roughly grabbing onto my waist and shoving me against its chest.

"Ahh!" I shouted, closing my eyes, praying that I would feel no pain.

"Shh! It's me!" I heard _him_ whisper into my ear. I slightly opened my eyes and looked up.

"You scared the shit of me, Nick!" I exclaimed as he released me.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"How long have you been following me?"

"Just for a little while. Why? Were you doing something you didn't want people to know about?"

_Just phasing into a huge wolf in the middle of the forest._ "No."

"Why did you run off like that back at the restaurant?" he asked.

"I didn't run. I walked."

"Why did you?" he asked again.

I hesitated. "I don't know…fresh air?"

I turned around and started to walk away from him.

"That kiss meant nothing," he said.

I suddenly stopped. I slightly turned my head. "Whatever. I don't care."

"I didn't kiss back," he shouted at me.

"I don't need to know that kind of information, and frankly, it's none of my business."

"I know you are jealous."

"What's up with you and that line? Is it your goal in life to _make_ me jealous or something?"

I continued to walk but I felt him grab my hand and step in front of me.

"So you're je- Did you cry?" he asked.

I looked away. _How could he notice I cried?_ "No."

"Yes, you did," he retorted.

"How would you know?" I said.

"Your eyes, they're all puffy," he replied.

"Why does it matter?"

"Look at me!" I kept my eyes away. "Look at me, damn it!" he demanded, placing both of his hands on the sides of my face, forcing me to look at him. "I care about you, okay?" I stared deep into his blue eyes, feeling a weird sensation in my stomach.

"Leave me alone, Nick," I said, grabbing his hands and pulling them away from my face.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't know… the way you looked when-"

"Okay, let me get this through your head. There's nothing wrong with me, I'm not mad at you, I wasn't crying and I really don't understand you," I blurted.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been glaring at me all week, looking like you wanted me dead, and now you're worried if I'm mad at you?" I asked incredulously.

"Leah, I don't hate you," he said softly, leaning in closer to me.

We were still making eye contact. I became stiff when I realized how close our faces were and avoided his gaze for a moment. He leaned closer.

_Holy crap! Was he going to kiss me?_

I could feel his minty breath on my lips, and I suddenly had the urge to kiss him. I quickly looked down and he lifted my face with his hand.

Slowly the gap between us shrank until there was only a millimeter separating our mouths. The world seemed to be going in slow motion. Our mouths were almost touching, and I felt my whole body shiver. _What was he doing to me?_ I closed my eyes, waiting for the feel of his lips on mine…

"Leah?" a male voice asked from behind me.

I turned my head back to see Julian standing there. "Julian, what are you doing here? How's your mother? Is she alright?" I asked him, although all I wanted to do was to kill him for interrupting this moment.

"Nothing happened to her. Someone thought that calling me and telling me she was in an accident was funny."

"But who could do something like that?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry I left you in the middle of our date. I'll make it up to you tomorrow? What do you say?"

"I have a lot of studying to do tomorrow, sorry," I lied.

"What about we have breakfast together and then you have the rest of the day to study?"

"Umm… Okay."

I looked in Nick's direction but he wasn't there anymore. He had been standing just there a minute ago. Where did he go? And why didn't I notice when he left?

I woke up in the middle of the night. There were too many things going on in my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened if Julian hadn't interrupted us. I was sure Nick was going to kiss me. How would that kiss have felt?

But Nick was the least of my problems. The most important thing I needed to focus on was trying to find the person who saw me in the forest. Could that person identify me? Was my secret safe? And what would I do if the secret was in danger?

I shook my head, closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep. That night I had a strange dream.

_A soft, salty breeze touched my face, making me open my eyes. I was in La Push, sitting near the edge of a cliff, watching the sunset. Under me, the waves crashed into the shore. At any moment the last ray of light would be gone, so I needed to return home. I stood up and turned around, but stopped when I saw Nick standing with a worried face in front of me. He seemed to be lost in thoughts because he hadn't seen me. The frown on his face didn't stop him from looking as handsome as always; his perfect face and body, his alluring lips, and especially his beautiful blue eyes. There was something in those ocean colored eyes that drew me in. Suddenly, he looked up and when his eyes found me, he smiled._

_I took a step toward him, but my feet didn't touch the ground, and suddenly I was falling in slow motion until I crashed into the cold, rough sea, and in no time I was underwater._

_I looked around; I was surrounded by darkness. I tried to swim back to the surface, but the water kept pushing me down. Soon I felt too exhausted and tired to fight the pull of the water. I stopped struggling and drifted weightlessly._

_My eyes felt heavy, and I started to close them, letting the water drag me to the bottom, this was a lost battle…until I felt two strong arms grab me and I saw blue eyes that seemed to be part of the sea. I looked into them, focusing on them only. They seemed familiar, I'd seen them somewhere before. Something in my mind snapped and I recognized where. Nick. Those eyes were Nick's. Somehow all the darkness surrounding us disappeared and I saw clearly. It was Nick, he was my savior…_

I woke up, breathing heavily and all sweaty. The daunting revelation that it wasn't just a dream but a memory hit me. I turned on the light and went to the kitchen. I couldn't believe I didn't recognize him before. Nick. It'd been him all this time, my savior. He jumped and took me out of the water.

I was confused. _Why did he save me?_ _What was he doing in La Push? And why didn't he mention he'd saved me?_

When I saw him again, I was going to make him talk, but this wasn't my number one priority; before doing anything else, I needed to focus on something more important. I needed to find out who was in the forest last night. I had to find out who had seen me and discovered my secret.

I'd uncovered the identity of the guy who'd pulled me out of the water, now I needed to know who the person in the forest was.

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**Dilidilzz86 gave me an idea, but I'm gonna need your help. ****I'm trying to find which actor/actress could play the part of the new characters. Who do you picture playing the role of the hotties?**


	13. Chapter 12

**Special t****hanks to my Betas -BelleDean and beautiful. nightmare.x- for their help.**

**Enjoy the reading!**

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**Chapter 12: Revealing secrets.**

I walked to the cafeteria. I wasn't in the mood to do anything other than find out the truth about the night before, but I had promised Julian I was going to have breakfast with him. He was already there when I arrived. The hotties were there too. My eyes immediately flew to the brunette with big, blue eyes who I dreamt of last night.

When I saw him sitting there, the only thing I wanted to do was run to him and ask him all the questions that were running through my mind, but I didn't. Now was not the time.

As soon as I sat down, Julian started apologizing for last night and then started planning where we should go out next time. I didn't pay much attention. The memory of Nick saving me never left my head, and also Julian was nice and very good lucking, but I wasn't interested in him.

Every few minutes, I looked in his direction and saw him looking back at me, glaring with so much hatred that I had to look away. He was definitely pissed. Shocking, right? Normally, I would do the same to him but now that I knew he saved me, everything was different. I couldn't believe how a dream could change things. I still wasn't sure though if this was just my imagination or reality. What if it had just been that – a dream, and it wasn't him but another guy with the same eye color?

"Leah, are you listening to me?" Julian asked, bringing me back to the present.

"Huh?"

"You didn't hear what I said, did you?"

"No, sorry. What was it?"

"I-I like you, and I know that you like me too." I raised an eyebrow. "So will you be my girlfriend?"

_Said what?_

"What gave you the impression I li-" He cut me off by sticking his tongue down my throat.

From the corner of my widening eyes I saw Nick. He was furious. I immediately pushed Julian who was grinning like an idiot, and punched him hard in the face.

"Do that again and I'll castrate you, got it?" I barked at him. He nodded.

I stood up and was walking out of the cafeteria when Cammie waved for me to join them.

"Leah, we saw what just happened, are you okay?" April asked. I nodded. "Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine." I turned my attention to Nick who was looking everywhere but at me. I suppose it was up to me to make the first move. "Hey, what are you looking at?"

"None of your business."

_Someone was on their man period?_ "Sorry, I thought we were going to stop fighting after what almost happened last night," I whispered to him.

"What happened last night?" Cammie asked.

"Nothing! Nothing happened, Cam," he answered.

She looked at him as if reading his mind. "Nick, I think we need to talk," she demanded. They stood up and left the cafeteria.

I went outside too, not because I wanted to spy on them, but because I needed some air. I was trying to figure Nick out, but the guy was acting like a hormonal teenager. One day he saves my life, the next he glares, and then he almost kisses me… This guy's hormonal changes where really stressing me. I needed to focus on more important matters, like trying to figure out who the person in the forest was. Yes, I should focus on that and stop thinking about him.

But my thoughts went straight back to Nick when I heard him and Camille arguing outside. I was going to try walk past them slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible so they didn't know I was there, but what they were talking about made me stay and eavesdrop on their conversation.

"...if you want this to work, stop treating Leah like that. She's my friend and I don't want her to be angry with me because you're acting like a jerk around her."

I didn't want to miss anything they said, so I walked a little closer to where they were.

"Cammie, you know what I feel towards her. I-" I wanted so badly to know what he felt for me, but he stopped in the middle of the sentence. I looked in their direction to see what made him stop talking, and saw that they both were looking at me. "What are you doing there?" Nick shouted angrily.

"Nothing."

"Were you listening?" Cammie asked.

"N-no." They both raised an eyebrow at me. "Okay, maybe a little." They raised their eyebrows higher. "Okay. Yes, I was listening."

They waited for my explanation. "I wanted to know what was going on."

"What did you hear?" Cammie asked worriedly.

"I heard that you and Nick are dating, and you want him to be nicer to me."

"What? Nick and I _dating_? What are you talking about?" They looked at each other and started to laugh.

"Leah, you're very fu- Wait! Were you jealous?" Nick asked.

"Pffft! Jealous? Ha! Keep dreaming!"

"Oh my! You _are_ jealous!" Cammie stated, smiling widely.

"N-no."

Nick was fucking smirking.

"Leah, don't worry. There's nothing to be jealous about," Cammie informed me.

"What? You two aren't dating?"

"Trust me that would _never_ happen! Not even in a thousand years," Cammie answered with wide eyes.

"Why? You two would make a cute couple."

"Eww! Nick's my brother! Just gross!" she said, shaking her head like trying to erase what I'd just said.

What? Nick and Camille were siblings?

She must have read my thoughts because she added, "Yes, we are siblings. So... you can have him all for yourself," she said the last part winking at me.

"That would never happen, Cammie. I only date beautiful girls," Nick said.

"Well, in that case why aren't you dating Leah? Because she's definitely much prettier than all the girls you've been with before," Cammie said.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Ha. I doubt that," he muttered.

"I'm right here you know?"

"Sorry, Leah." Cammie turned to look at me and hugged me. "You're definitely the prettiest of them all," she whispered in my ear.

Nick was glaring at both of us.

"Oh, Nick, come on! Tell your little sister that Leah is much prettier than that girl from last night? What was her name? Blair, Brandy, Brenda. Brooke! That was it. Brooke. Seriously, how could you even kiss her? She's so-"

"Cam, I don't care what you think, she's my girlfriend."

_Girlfriend? Brooke was Nick's girlfriend?_

"Girlfriend?" Cammie asked disgusted. She didn't like her either. _Welcome to the club._

"Yes, so be nice, Cam. I know you, so don't try anything."

"Don't worry. We'll become best friends, you'll see," Cammie said in a sarcastic tone. She turned to me, smiled and hugged me again. "You're still better than her. Don't let this change your feelings," she whispered. "See you later, lovebirds." She waved goodbye and entered the cafeteria.

I turned my attention to Nick who was –as always- glaring daggers at me. "Don't believe what she said."

"About what?"

"That you're beautiful. She only said that to be nice, so don't think all that was true."

I stayed silent for a minute. I couldn't believe this guy saved my life and now was treating me like shit.

"I'll think whatever I want to think, and let me remind you that last night you were going to kiss me, so I know you can't find me _that_ unattractive."

"Last night, I was, um, drunk! I was drunk. I would have kissed anyone. But normally I have better taste when I'm drunk."

"Well, Julian thinks I'm pretty because he asked me out."

"Then he needs his eyes examined."

"_You_ need to get your eyes examined. You're dating Brooke? Seriously? You like _her_? She's so fake and slutty."

"Ha. She's the slut? What about you? Last night, you were ready to kiss me whilst you were supposed to be on a date with some other guy."

I was starting to get angry. I took deep breaths. _Breathe in, breathe out._

This wasn't working. What the hell was his problem? Was he having his period or something? First he said one thing and then says the complete opposite. He was so contradictory. It was annoying, and it pissed me off.

"I'm not a slut! What's your fucking problem?" I shouted.

"My problem? What's _your_ problem? You were with that guy after we almost kissed and today you're having breakfast with him and flirting with him all the fucking time in my face!"

Flirting with Julian? What? Was that jealousy I detected in his voice?

"You just said you didn't like me, so why do you care? And just to be clear, _he_ was flirting with me. I didn't-"

"Yes, but you flirted back. I saw you. You two were kissing in the middle of the cafeteria. Please, have some decency and do it privately next time."

"I wasn't kissing him," I said, but he ignored me and continued talking.

"After what almost happened last night between us, I was going to tell you everything. And then you are on that breakfast date with him. And to top it, you kissed him."

"I'll repeat it, shall I? _He_ kissed me! I didn't." Why was I even bothering to explain this to him? After all, he kissed Brooke yesterday too. And now he was apparently dating her! "You were kissing Brooke yesterday, and she's your new girlfriend so why would you care?"

"I kissed her because-"

"I don't care, you talk about me and Julian, but you are just the same! Ugh! We are nothing, Nick! Why can't you leave me alone? You're driving me crazy with the completely contradictory shit you pull! You know what? I don't want to talk any more. I'm out of here."

I was walking away when he grabbed my wrist and spun me around. "You want to know why I like bothering you? Because you didn't listen to me when I told you to stay away from us. You didn't do what I told you to. If you want me to stop, then stay away from us."

"I thought Paul was a pain but seriously you just topped him. If you think I'm going to do what you're saying then keep dreaming."

I freed myself from his grasp and started walking away from him.

"I saw you in the forest yesterday, Leah!"

I stopped walking and turned around to see him with that stupid smirk on his face.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"I know your secret," he said while coming closer to me.

My heart almost stopped beating. He was the one in the forest, the one who saw me phase into a gigantic wolf. He knew I was a shape-shifter.

"If you want to keep it as a secret, I think you should reconsider what I said, and stay away from us. I wouldn't like to tell people that you're not..._human_."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about? What am I, an alien or something?" I said, trying to play it cool.

"Well, let's just say there aren't many _wolves_ in this area, and last night I happened to come across one."

My eyes widened. He walked past me and headed to the cafeteria with his stupid smirk still in place.

He knew my secret and now he was blackmailing me! That son of a bitch! Nick knew my fucking secret! What was I going to do?


	14. Chapter 13

**Special t****hanks to my Betas beautiful. nightmare.x and ****BelleDean****- for their help.**

**Enjoy the reading!**

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**Chapter 13: I wasn't the only one hiding a secret!**

Nick knew my secret. _Fuck!_ And he was going to tell everyone about it if I went near him or any of the hotties. _Double fuck!_

How could I get into a situation like this? And why was he so obsessed about pushing me away? Was he afraid that I would attack them? Till now, I had managed to stay calm. It wasn't an easy task though; sometimes I had to focus really hard on something else so I didn't change into my wolf form. I'd had a little trouble when I'd first arrived at college and didn't phase as often as I used to, but I guess that was just the animal in me calling to be released. I'd taken note of that and started phasing on a regular basis. So there was no danger.

But that wasn't the reason he wanted me to stay away. He had just found out about my secret two days ago, but his hate toward me had started months before, when we first met. No, there was something else. But what was it?

It was in moments like this when I really needed _them_, my pack brothers. I had to tell them that Nick had discovered our secret. Maybe they knew what to do to stop him from telling anyone else about what we were.

I ran to the forest as fast as my human legs would take me and phased, I didn't care that it was still early in the morning, I couldn't wait until dark to talk to the guys. I needed to do it now.

_Hello?_ _Is anybody here?_ There was no answer. None of the guys were in their wolf form. Usually this would make me happy; having my head to myself, being able to think about stuff without four boys listening to my every thought, but today I really needed to talk to them, only no one was there. _Just great!_

I ran around the forest for a while, trying to make time for any of the boys to phase, but there was no such luck. I was alone for this one. I had to find a way on my own to make Nick keep his mouth shut and pay for blackmailing me.

What could I do? Killing him was not even an option. _Stupid mission of protecting humans! _MaybeI could kidnap him? Okay, I was going out of my mind here.

Suddenly, a noise caught my attention. It was like people shouting and…_cheering_? Maybe I _was_ really going out of my mind. I checked this time and no one had followed me. I was in the middle of the forest, _alone_.

I ran stealthily toward the noise. Maybe the noise was made by vampires who were feeding. The mere thought of seeing a bloodsucker sucking on a human made my blood boil and cringe at the same time.

The shouting was coming closer, and I could distinguish several voices. I just hoped that they weren't newborns, those bastards were really hard to kill.

I approached the place where the cheering was coming from, waiting for the sweet vampire reek to penetrate my nostrils, but it never came.

My eyes widened. In front of me, in a small clearing, were Nick, Cammie, Kara, Noah, Alex, and Elliott playing baseball. I wasn't that surprised that they were playing baseball in the middle of nowhere, I was surprised at the _way_ they were playing it.

How the hell could they run that fast? They were running at vampire speed, maybe even faster. How could that be possible? Humans couldn't run that fast.

I stayed hidden, watching them play for a while. It was Elliott's turn to hit the ball. Alex threw him a fast ball and when he hit it, he sent it far away. Then Kara started running at a high-speed and in a second she was back with the ball, she threw it to Noah and Elliott was out.

_What the hell?_ They couldn't be that fast. They were _humans_... Humans _don't_ run that fast. _Humans_… That was it. They _weren't_ humans. I'd always known they were different than normal people when I first met them, but what were they then?

Vampires? Nah! They couldn't be vampires because I would have smelled them. They never sparkled in the sun either.

I looked back at them and noticed they had suddenly stopped playing.

"What the hell, Nick?" Elliott shouted.

"There's someone over there," he answered, pointing in my direction.

They all stuck together, protecting each other's back in case there was some kind of ambush. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, waiting for someone to attack them, but then relaxed when they noticed there wasn't any danger.

"Someone's still here," Nick whispered, walking in my direction, followed closely by the rest of the hotties.

_Okay, that's my cue to get the hell out of here!_ I turned around and ran to college.

My mind started to wonder what they could be. When the Euro-Mafia leeches came to Forks, they said there were children of the moon, actual werewolves.

They weren't vampires. They didn't stink and they didn't sparkle in the sunlight. They ate normal food and they were warm…so could they actually be children of the moon?


	15. Chapter 14

**Special t****hanks to my Betas beautiful. nightmare.x and ****BelleDean****- for their help.**

**Enjoy the reading!**

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**Chapter 14: They were... Oh. My!**

A week had passed since I'd found the hotties playing baseball in the woods, and I still hadn't discovered any clues that could lead me to what they were. My suspicion was that they were werewolves, the real ones, but now that I knew vampires and shape-shifters existed, the possibilities of what supernatural creatures they could be were endless; hybrids, zombies, aliens, mutants…

I'd been watching them; studying the way they walked, what they ate; even following them on their excursions to the woods, only to find they liked running and playing baseball at super speed.

I kept a certain distance from them, avoided eating and hanging out with them, not because Nick told me to, but to watch them carefully and also to protect myself. I wasn't sure what they were capable of. I knew they wouldn't hurt me, but in case they phased and lost control with six against one, the odds were staked against me.

I searched for information about werewolves and other creatures in the books in the library, but apart from getting odd looks from the librarian and some students, I didn't find anything.

I even did some research on the internet. I knew it was stupid because the internet wasn't always the most reliable source, but after reading myths and legends about werewolves on a few sites, I found an interesting one that talked about werewolves, shape-shifters and lycanthropes. I somehow trusted the information because in the shape-shifter's description, all it said about us was true. Well,except the fact that only boys changed into animal forms. I was living proof that that wasn't the case.

There was a little description and a picture of a werewolf. Their physical appearance was completely different than ours. They had a wolfy face but stood on two feet. While we were huge wolves, they were huge humans with fur.

The site described them as being fast in both of their forms. They were stronger in human form but extremely strong when transformed, unnaturally attractive and with high body temperature. They could communicate with each other telepathically and had great reflexes. All their senses were strongly developed, especially hearing and smelling.

The description continued with the explanation of their transformation which started when the full moon was in the sky. It didn't matter if the moon was hidden, they could feel the power of the moon, which was enough to start the phasing. The first symptoms before the transformation were bad mood and anxiety. A full moon on average rose around five to six at night, which is when the early symptoms started kicking in. When the moon was at its highest peak at midnight, the transformation began.

I sighed, leaning back on my chair. The hotties had some of these characteristics. They were all unnaturally beautiful, fast, all had good reflexes, and their temperature seemed to be similar to mine. But I still wasn't sure. This information could be totally wrong. To resolved this and proved or disprove my theory that they were indeed children of the moon, I had to run a test. I had to see if my friends turned into fury creatures on a full moon.

I checked when the next full moon was, and just my luck, that very same night there was going to be one. This was my opportunity to prove these people were werewolves.

I didn't waste time. As soon as I saw Camille on campus, I invited her to come and spend the afternoon with me to apologize for avoiding her. She was the one that showed most of the characteristics.

Around four o'clock, she came to my dorm and we spent most of the time talking about everything, well, we talked most of the time about Nick. She tried to convince me he was a nice guy and she didn't understand why he was acting like a total jerk towards me.

Two hours later, Cammie started showing the first symptom: anxiety. She couldn't stay in the same place for more than five minutes. She stood up and sat down again. She paced from one end of the room to the other.

"Is everything okay? Do you need to be somewhere?" I asked her.

"No. Everything's fine. It's just Nick might need my help when he's transforming, but I think he'll manage fine without me," she said like she was talking to herself.

"Transforming?"

Her eyes widened when she realized she'd said something she shouldn't have. "Um...transforming? I-I said transforming?"

"Yes, you did."

"Oh, I didn't want to say transforming. I meant to say…_changing_! Changing, that's what I wanted to say. He has a date with Brooke and he wanted my opinion on what to wear. You know, transform him from simple to elegant." She laughed nervously.

_Nice save__**,**__ Cammie! But I won't give up that easily._

She took a deep breathe and sat down.

For the next hour she seemed calm.

Why was she so relaxed all of a sudden? Shouldn't she be more anxious and desperate to go outside?

Maybe the moon hadn't appeared yet. In an hour or two she'd have to run to the forest or she'd phase in my room.

Another hour passed and the symptoms reappeared. She was getting anxious again, and her mood changed too. If I asked her something, she would answer harshly and then apologize, telling me she was stressed and felt tired. I was expecting that at any moment she would tell me she needed to go back to her dorm or somewhere so she could start the transformation.

But I was wrong. It was night, the moon was shinning in the dark sky and still nothing. She was reading on the couch, still human. How could that be possible? She should have exploded into a werewolf by now!

What if she needed to go outside and feel the moonlight on her skin to transform? If that was it, all I needed to do was to take her outside.

"Hey, why don't we go out and have some dinner?"

"Go. I'm fine here."

"I don't want to walk alone to the cafeteria all by myself at night. It can be dangerous for a girl alone. Will you come with me?"

"The whole walkway is lit up, you couldn't go by yourself?" she said annoyed.

"I'm scared," I lied.

"Scared? Of what?"

"Rapists, murderers, Chucky."

"Okay, okay, I'll come. It'd be a shame if you got killed by a doll," she said, standing up and following me outside.

~oOo~

When I got back to my dorm, after grabbing dinner with Camille, I lay on my bed and attempted in vain to stop wondering about our walk under the moonlight. I still couldn't believe it. _Nothing _happened.

We'd been outside for almost two hours and she didn't explode into fur or anything. She was human, but how was that possible? She had all the characteristics a werewolf had! I saw them running at lightening fast speed in the forest. I saw her catching a ball that even I couldn't stop. There was no way she was human.

Maybe I was looking in the wrong supernatural species?

I got up from the bed. I needed some air to start thinking about other possibilities. Maybe I could even find one of the guys and ask them for help. I had to find out about the hotties, I wasn't going to give up without finding the truth.

Once in the woods, I phased and ran in my wolf form for a while. I loved the feeling of the wind running through my fur and how my paws felt against the floor. It made me relax and allow me to think clearly.

I didn't realize I'd been running for hours, until I saw the sun starting to rise when I decide it was time to go back to the dorm. The beautiful white full moon started to disappear letting the first rays of sunshine shine warmly against my fur.

Werewolves. How could I ever think something like that? Maybe they were just fast people or maybe I was just imagining everything. Perhaps they'd never been in the forest playing baseball. What if I was so desperate to find something un-normal about them that I made it all up?

Suddenly I heard a strange sound near me. It sounded like animals crying in pain. I felt a shiver going through my body. The sound was terrifying and painful to my ears.

I went in the direction of the noises. As I approached it, the sound became clearer and more menacing. It sounded like wolves howling in pain. It reminded me of the whimper Jake had made when he'd been attacked by the newborn that broke his ribs.

I hid behind a bush so I could have a look at the scene before biting whoever it was who was harming the animals. I looked up and there I saw them, six tall hairy figures, crying in pain as if someone was tearing off their fur.

The scene was terrifying. They were shaking uncontrollably and howling as if they were trying to ask for help, begging someone to stop their suffering. Their bodies started to shrink, bones cracking and moving, going back to a human height and shape. Then their hairy legs and hands became bare. Their snouts changed into noses and mouths, and their wolfy ears turned to human ears, shouting now with their human voice, until they collapsed to the floor.

In front of me were six naked bodies, lying on the floor, still shaking and whining lowly, breathing fast.

I took a closer look at their faces and my heart almost stopped beating. There naked, in the middle of the forest were Elliott, Noah, Alex, Kara, Nick and... Camille?

I was right. I wasn't imagining anything. They were werewolves, all of them, even Camille. But how? She didn't turn when the full moon was in the sky or when the moonlight touched her body. Were they some different type of werewolves? Could they phase when they wanted, like me?

All these questions would have to wait to be answered. They seemed to be in pain and tired. The important thing was I also knew their secret. Nick's secret. If he tried to blackmail me again, I could do exactly the same back.

If _he_ wanted a war, he'd get one. So let the game start. I was more than prepared to fight back.


	16. Chapter 15

**Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Ally. Happy birthday to youuu...! Well it's two days later but better today than never right?**

**Once again, I'd like to thank my betas BelleDean and beautiful. nightmare.x for their amazing help in this chapter.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

**Chapter 15: You're a fucking werewolf!**

I woke up to the sweet feeling of being able to get even. Two could play at that game, and Nick was going to see that no one would mess with me and walk away winning the battle without a struggle.

They were werewolves! Children of the moon like the Royal-Leeches called them.

I just couldn't wait to see Nick's face when I told him I knew his secret. I ran to the cafeteria, I even thought about phasing to run faster to get to him sooner.

I still couldn't believe Nick had the guts to blackmail me. But now that I thought about it, revenge was going to be so much fun.

I entered the huge room, almost pulling the door of its hinges. The smell of freshly brewed made coffee and muffins was the first thing I caught, but then a new smell caught my attention. It was sweet, but not vampire-sweet. It was a nice kind of sweetness. I had noticed it a couple of times since I'd arrived, and it always managed to make me shiver in pure excitement.

I shook my head, I couldn't focus on the effect of a smell. I wasn't sure what it was and it only appeared once in a while. All I needed to focus on was Nick and the way his face would look when I finally told him I knew his secret.

I searched for the table where the hotties always sat. _The hotties_. It was funny how I still called them that. I should change my nickname for them to the wolfies.

They were all there, eating and talking amongst themselves**, **unaware of what I knew.

_Let the game begin! _I took a deep breath and walked towards them.

"Hey, guys!" I greeted them, taking the seat in between Camille and Nick.

They all looked up at me.

"What are you doing here, Leah?" Nick asked, glaring.

"I came to say hi to my friends."

"Well, hi. Now leave!" he said.

"Oh, well, thanks for the offer, but I'm staying to catch up with you. It's been a while since I last talked to you guys properly. We have a lot to catch up on."

"Um, I think you have to go, Leah. Didn't you have to study about _wolves_ or something?" Nick glared harder at me.

"No. Actually, I've studied a lot about them last night." I smirked.

"Leave! I wouldn't like to tell them your secret," he whispered to me, his breath sending shivers all over my body.

_Damn him!_

"Don't worry! Go ahead, tell them my secret," I encouraged him once the effect of his breath against my skin had lessened.

"Nick, what secret are you talking about?" Alex asked curiously.

Everyone started glancing from Nick to me.

"Well, Leah isn't what we think she is!" he blurted.

"What do you mean with 'she isn't what we think she is'?" Noah asked.

"She's..." Nick looked at me, giving me one last chance to stop him, but I looked straight back at him, raising an eyebrow, daring him to continue. "Well, she's not human!" he whispered.

"What?" They all asked in unison, turning to look at me.

_Ha. Like you didn't change into wolves too!_

"Well, now that you mention that. I know a secret about you too, Nick," I said.

"What are you talking about? I'm not hiding anything."

"Well, let's say that there are _more_ wolves on this campus than I initially thought."

"W-what are you talking about?" Kara asked nervously.

"That there are _six_ wolves, running through the forest when the moon is _full_."

All their eyes widened.

"Cammie, did you...in front of her?" Alex asked her.

They all looked at Cammie. "What? Of course not! I didn't _change_ in front of her," she whispered while she raised her hands in defense.

"She didn't. I was running in the forest last night and saw you when you were phasing back."

They all sat with wide eyes. It was pretty funny to see them like that, with fear and surprise written all over their faces.

"So...you know about us?" Noah said.

I nodded. "Well, I guess you won't try to blackmail me again, right, Nick?" I smirked at him.

"You blackmailed her?" Elliott asked, laughing.

"Yes," I answered, smirking wider.

"What?" Cammie shouted at Nick.

I was enjoying this very, very much. Nick would have a lot of explaining to do later.

Leah: 1, Nick: 0.

"So you're a wolf too?" April asked, making everyone turn their attention to her.

"I think we should talk about this somewhere else, April. We could be heard here," Noah suggested.

We were going to go outside when Ms Fake Brunette a.k.a. Brooke, appeared.

"Hi, Nicky!" she said with her high-pitched voice.

Cammie groaned. "Brenda, get lost! We're having a private conversation!" she said to Brooke, grabbing Nick and me, and pulling us outside.

"So you're a werewolf?" Elliott asked once we were outside and nobody was near us, eying me up and down like I was a piece of pie he would love to eat.

"I'm a shape-shifter actually," I said.

They all nodded.

"Do you have a gift?" Noah asked.

"No."

They nodded again.

"Do you have special powers?" I asked them.

"Nick, Cammie, and Noah do," Kara informed me.

"And April obviously," Noah added, looking at the little girl standing next to him.

Alex noticed I didn't understand. "April isn't a werewolf. She's a fairy."

_Fairies existed too? _

"And why are you with them?"

"Because they are fam-"

"Why are you telling her all our secrets? She could be our enemy for all we know! A spy! _Shut up_!" he ordered, using what was probably the Alpha tone because they all went silent.

Cammie glared harder at her brother. He sighed and said, "You may speak, Cam."

"Thank you. I really hate you when you do that!" she told him and then turned to me. "Lee, there's so much to talk about. Why don't we go for a walk, just you and me?"

I nodded. I swear this girl was amazing. She knew what to say and do at every moment to lower the tension between Nick and me.

We walked around the building silently for a while. I had so many questions to ask about them. How they became werewolves? About their powers, the transformation, if they imprinted? I wanted to know everything.

Cammie broke the silence first. "So you phase into a wolf when you want, right?"

"Yes. Sometimes I do it involuntary, when vampires are near though. We change to kill them."

"So you protect people from vampires?" she asked curiously. I nodded. "That's good. Are there any others like you?"

"Yes. There are two packs in La Push. I'm the Beta in my pack actually."

"Beta, eh? Then you're in a powerful position. What are your brothers and sisters like?"

"I have only brothers. I'm the only female shape-shifter...ever."

"A unique creature," she stated sadly, like she knew what I was talking about. "I know how you feel. There are female werewolves in my specie, but I'm not a werewolf. Well, I'm only half. You see, my father was a werewolf but my mother was a fairy, so I'm half and half."

"Half-werewolf half-fairy?" She nodded. "And Nick? Isn't he half and half too?"

"No, we're half-siblings. Same father, different mothers."

"I'm sorry, Cammie."

"Why are you sorry?"

"You know, being the only different one."

"I'm not sorry for what I am. I know I'm the only one and I accepted it. Being different is not so bad, Leah."

"Speak for yourself. Since I became a shape-shifter, everything turned into a hell for me. If I were a werewolf, I wouldn't feel like I'm the only freak in this world. I'd have other freaks like me," I said.

"Never say that again, Leah. You don't know what you're talking about," she added angrily. "Werewolves are monsters who murder when the full moon appears. Werewolves don't mind taking someone's life or making someone carry the same curse as they do." Camille sighed. "You can't imagine how much we all wish we could be like you. You change for a reason. You have a mission, you protect people. We've never killed or turned someone into a werewolf. I've been lucky that my wolf is more serene. And Nick, Noah, Alex, Kara and Elliott control the animal in them after many years of training, although sometimes they can lose control. But there are others whose wolf takes complete control over them and they stop being who they are. This is a curse. "

We stayed silent for a moment until she spoke again. "Lee, I believe there's good and there's evil in all people. It's up to them to decide which side dominates. You could never be one of us. I mean a werewolf."

I raised my eyebrow at her. "Why?"

"You're too human to be a werewolf. So stop thinking about changing who you are and start accepting it. I understand that you miss your complete humanity but you are one. You're a human before a wolf. Remember that always."

"I get it, but being what I am sometimes makes it hard to find people to love. I don't know who can fall for someone like me."

She nodded like she was thinking of what I was saying. "It's you."

"What?"

"This will sound like a one of those lines from the fortune cookies, but the first person to love is you. When you learn to love yourself, you'll be able to love anyone. But first it's you and only you."

I sighed. "I've already heard that. My friends in Forks said the same to me." _Rosalie and Alice._ I missed spending time with them, especially because they knew what it was like to be different, to be something you never wished for.

"Well they must be very smart human women then."

I almost laughed at Cammie's statement. Rosalie and Alice were women, yes. But humans? Well, they were more like vampires. But I wouldn't share that information with Cammie yet.

"And I'm pretty sure there's someone that's already in love with you," she said, smiling, bringing me back from my thoughts. I made a confused face. "Oh, come on! Nick of course!"

"N-no I don't like him!"

"I didn't say _you_ liked him, but that just confirms you do," she said, grinning wider.

I was going to deny it but was cut off by Kara and Elliott running towards us.

"Hey, girls! Miss me much?" Elliot said. "I was thinking maybe today we could play some baseball, April and Leah could be added to the game too. What do you think?"

I wasn't so sure. Strength and speed weren't my best qualities in human form. Kara must have read my face because she added immediately, "It will be fun. We won't play rough."

"Don't worry, Leah," Elliott said, draping his arm across my shoulders. "I'll make sure no ball hits you. Your face is too pretty to be ruined."

"Well your face's gonna be ruined in about three seconds if you don't get your grubby arm off of me," I said, shoving his arm off of me. He stepped back, his hands raised in defense. But he didn't take me seriously because he had a smile on his face.

"Elliott, behave!" Camille ordered him.

"Sorry, Cam. But I can't help it when I see a pretty girl like her."

"Ha. Pretty where? " Nick's voice came from behind him.

"Well she's prettier than Barbara," Elliott commented.

"It's Brooke."

"Whatever, man. If you don't like Leah, it's better for me," Elliott said, winking to me.

"Can we focus here?" Kara asked desperately. "Are we playing or what?" She took Cammie's hand and pulled her to the forest, the rest of us following them.

During the game the guys told me about their 'werewolf stuff' and I told them about mine. At the beginning, I wasn't so sure about sharing all the tribe's secrets with a bunch of people I barely knew, but there was something about them that made me trust them.

I'd also found out they only changed with the full moon. Only Cammie could change whenever she wanted, but she refused to do it. And April told me a little about fairies. All the tales that said that fairies were only good were false, so there went my childhood's stories.

We played baseball and talked all day. Elliott, as he promised, protected me whenever a fast ball was coming my way, and that made Nick jealous, I guess, because he kept staring daggers or throwing things to Elliott whenever he touched me or was near me. For example, there was this time when a ball was coming high towards me. I jumped and Elliott did the same to catch the ball and we crushed into each other in the air. I fell on the ground and he fell on top of me. We were in a very suggesting position. And the fact that Elliott was leaning to kiss me wasn't helping much. Our lips were almost touching when a ball hit Elliott's head.

"Nick, why the hell did you throw that ball at Elliott?" Cammie asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I thought he could catch it, but I guess he isn't as good as he thinks he is," Nick answered, smirking.

That made Elliott angry because he ran towards Nick and they stared fighting, sending punches here and there. It took Alex and Noah a couple of minutes to separate them.

Playing baseball with werewolves was something rough and dangerous, and also a good way to piss off Nick.


	17. Chapter 16

**Thanks to my superBetas: BelleDean and beautiful. nightmare.x**

**I know you all want some Nick and Leah fluff but before that happens, I want to explain a bit of the scent thing that most of you were wondering about. Next chapter will be all about Nick and Leah. I promise you won't regret the wait. _And why Nick saved Leah?_ That will come soon too, just be a little patient and keep reading.**

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**Chapter 16: Your scent can do what?**

Nick, Cammie and I were waiting in line to pay for our breakfast in the cafeteria.

"Hi, Nicky!" came a high-pitched squeal from behind us.

We all turned around to see Brooke jump on Nick, hugging him tightly and kissing him.

_Thanks! I'm not hungry __anymore! _That sight was enough to put anyone off their breakfast.

I wasn't the only one disgusted with what I saw. Cammie looked sickened too. She stepped in between them, pushing Brooke away from her brother.

Camille looked at Nick, and by the way they moved their faces and eyes, I guessed they were sharing a not so nice mental conversation. They could communicate telepathically whenever they wanted, and limit the thoughts they were sharing to only those they wanted to.

After what seemed like the longest stare contest, Nick furrowed his eyebrows and walked out of the cafeteria with Brooke following behind him. When he passed next to me, his scent caught my attention. He smelled different that day, but it was a familiar scent too.

I was intrigued by this. Why did he smell different than before? I noticed this wasn't the only time I caught this new scent. Without going to far, I remembered that I caught it the day before, and occasionally during my stay here too. I'd even sensed it the day when I fell from the cliff. Then it hit me, Nick was there that day at La Push. This was more proof of that.

Nick's scent was _always_ amazing, but today it was driving me crazy. It was so masculine and sweet with a salty touch that made it so tempting, so good; it made me want to lick his skin to taste it, to know what parts of his body tasted salty and which ones sweet. My whole body shivered at the thought of him naked and me savoring his warm skin.

"It must be a really good thought by the look on your face but we have to move," Camille whispered in my ear, bringing me back to reality. "Come on, I just paid for our food." She grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the line.

"So, what was it about?"

"What?"

"What were you thinking about?"

"It was nothing."

She raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to tell her.

"Okay, I was thinking about Nick's scent. I was trying to figure out why he smelled different today."

Her eyes widened. She tightened her hold on my arm and quickened her pace to the table where the others were sitting.

"Guys, I want you to tell Leah about the change of scent you have after the full moon," she said.

"Why do you want us to tell her that?" Elliott asked.

"She _smelled_ someone," Cammie said.

"Who?" Alex asked, his voice showing a glimpse of scare.

"Nick," Camille answered, making him relax a bit but then his eyes widened. Elliott and Noah had the same reaction as him.

I didn't understand why they all reacted like that. Nick smelled different, yes, but what was the big deal with that?

"Are you serious?" Noah asked.

Cammie nodded. "So, would you tell her? You know how this works better than me."

"Fine," Alex answered. "We attract our mate by our scent. End of the story."

"Huh?"

"Our mate falls for our smell," Elliott tried explaining.

They lost me in 'we attract our mate by our scent'. What the hell did that mean?

"We smell like humans all the time, but a day after the full moon our bodies become stronger and they create this special scent to attract a strong woman," Noah explained.

"So let's see if I understood. What you're saying is that a day after your transformation you spray this special odor that make lots of girls go crazy for you and fight against each other to see who's the strongest?"

"No, Leah. We only attract one woman. A _unique_ female that could handle us being werewolves, and she's somehow destined to be our soul mate."

"So you have something similar to imprinting. Fate decides who you should be with but instead of looking into each other eyes you do it by your smell?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at Noah.

"You're wrong again. We fall in love naturally, but if there's a woman that can smell the wolf in us, she's kind of our true mate only if we want her and she wants us. Nothing is forced. Although, most of the time that woman who smells us is someone we're in love with or will be in love with. It's like a way to attract someone we like," Noah finished explaining.

"So you understand now?" Cammie asked.

I looked at her. She was smiling like crazy.

"Umm, kinda?"

"Oh, Leah, come on! Do we have to explain everything to you?" she asked tiredly. She was going to explain but stopped when April, Kara, Nick and Brooke appeared.

I still didn't understand fully how the smell thing worked, but I knew one thing for certain, _I_ smelled Nick, and that meant something.

I pushed that thought away. I couldn't fantasize about Nick and me together. Why? One, I didn't like Nick. Two, Nick didn't like me. And last but not least, Nick had a girlfriend, and even though I didn't like Brooke much, I would never, ever, get in the middle of their relationship.

Breakfast turned out to be very entertaining. It looked like none of the hotties were fond of Brooke dating Nick. The guys gave her each a different name. Some of them were: Brenda, Barbara, Blair, Betty, and the list continued. During the whole meal they made comments like: "Can you pass me that, _Barbara_?" or "So where are you from, _Beth_?"

Brooke smiled, trying to look cool with it, but every time one of the hotties called her Brenda, she twisted her upper lip upwards and turned to Nick, looking for support.

At some point, in between some Breandas and Blairs, she whispered into Nick's ear that she wanted to leave. He told her that he had just started eating and didn't want to leave yet, but for her sake he asked the guys to stop calling her names. After that, Brooke tried to thank him by kissing him, but he turned his head away from her and started eating.

Watching them together did weird things to my body. Every time she got close to him, every time she touched him, my stomach twisted in disgust. But that day it didn't.

Seeing them this close showed me that although they were dating, Nick wasn't in love with her. He never even acted like he was interested in her. He was always trying to avoid her attempts at kissing him, and whenever Brooke touched him, he flinched.

All in all, Nick was different that day; not only his scent, but also his attitude toward me was strange. I caught him watching me during breakfast a few times, and every time our eyes met, he looked away. It was really weird seeing him this relaxed and quiet, knowing that he was always controlling everything and glaring the hell out of me. To be honest, this new attitude made me feel a little uncomfortable. I knew how to talk and react to angry Nick, but I think that if he asked me something right now, I would probably run away.

"This has a lot of calories. Why don't you try eating something with less sugar and fat?" Brooke's high pitched voice interrupted my thoughts, pointing at my plate of pancakes covered on syrup.

"With no sugar and fat? Are you talking about something like water?"

My comment made everyone laugh. I looked up to see Nick's reaction and I almost stopped breathing; he was looking at me with a small smile on his face. Our eyes connected, and that was when I realized I was falling for him. Brooke broke the spell when she grabbed Nick's arm and pulled him up off his chair, telling him to go outside with her. He hesitated for a minute but finally stood up to follow her. Nick got back to his old self when he gave us one of his infamous glares.

"Thank you very much for upsetting her and ruining my breakfast!" he said. Then he turned around to leave but I was sure I saw a smile on his face.

"What he sees in that girl is always going to be a mystery to me," Cam said when her brother had left.

"He obviously wasn't in his right mind when he asked her out. I mean, why else would he date someone like her?" April said.

"Maybe he just wanted to make someone jealous," Alex pointed out.

Cammie and April's eyes turned to me. Then they looked at each other and nodded. "Yes, that was it," Camille said.

There was no way he was doing this because of me, right? He wasn't interested in me. The thought of Nick dating Brooke just to make me jealous was crazy, but it was doing wonders to my self esteem.

"And by the smile on her face, she definitely likes him too," April said.

I didn't like him. I _couldn't_ like him. But I nodded to April's statement. I liked Nick. Something drew me to him every time we were near, and he was always on my mind, no matter if they were good or bad, he was always present in my thoughts.

"That's great! He likes you and you like him, then what are you waiting for?" April asked.

"Why don't you tell him how you feel for him, Leah? April's right, he's so in love with you," Cammie said sweetly. "Why don't you tell Nick th-"

"Tell me what?" Nick's voice interrupted his sister.

My eyes widened. I turned around on my chair to look at him. When our eyes locked, I knew I wouldn't be able to tell him anything but the truth.


	18. Chapter 17

**As some of you've asked for _them_ to appear, here they are. Thanks to ari11990 who gave me some ideas that inspired this chapter, and a special thanks to my amazing beta, BelleDean, for making this chapter look good.**

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**Chapter 17: An unexpected visit.**

"Tell me what?" Nick asked, looking at me.

My eyes widened. I turned around on my chair to look at him. When our eyes locked, I knew I wouldn't be able to tell him anything but the truth.

"Um, I..." I looked at the girls who were making faces, encouraging me to tell him how I felt. "I-" Damn! I couldn't finish a sentence when he stared at me like that.

"She wants to hang out with us today, and she wanted to know if you'll be okay with it," Cammie said.

"That's all you wanted to say?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered, looking straight at him. When our eyes locked again, the world around us seemed to dissapear. For a moment, I thought he was getting closer to me, but then he turned his gaze away when Camille asked him, "You'll be nice to her then?"

"Of course he will, he always behaves. But today he won't be able to show his good manners. We've already made plans for the day, right, Nicky?" Brooke said, walking behind him. "By the way, Leah, please don't come to the room soon today, okay?"

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Nick and I'll be kind of busy. You know what I mean?"

Cammie made a face like she was going to puke and then she pulled me up, walking outside the cafeteria. I didn't know I was shaking, until she pushed me behind a tree, and then my fur exploded.

Damn! I hated that Nick had the power to make me feel like this.

xOx

During class, I couldn't stop wondering at what point in time did I lost my brain, and why of all the men in the world, I had to fall for Nick?

"Leah? Earth calling, Leah," April called me.

"Huh?"

"Class is over."

"Oh." I stood up, and walked next to the petite girl, until we got to the corridor.

She turned to me. "If you like him, tell him when you're ready. He'll be happy to know," she said and walked away, heading to her next class.

I sighed. There was no way in hell I was telling Nick that. I turned to my left and walked along the silent corridor to my next class when a familiar scent caught my attention. I followed it.

The smell's trail ended outside the building where a group of girls were surrounding someone. I spotted Amanda in the crowd and called her. She turned her head and saw me, waving for me to go next to her.

"Leah, you're just in time! You have to see these boys! They are so hot!"

I looked at the four boys in front of me. The guys all these girls were drooling over to were none other than Seth, Embry, Quil and Jake.

I rolled my eyes as the four boys acted like they were celebrities amongst their fans. I think I even saw Quil signing an autograph.

"What the hell are they doing here?"

"You know them?" Amanda shouted, causing Seth to look our way.

"Leah!" Seth shouted happily, running towards me and hugging me.

I was trying to push him away off of me but couldn't when the other three boys followed him and hugged me too.

"Get the hell away from me!" I shouted, finally pushing them. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"We came to visit you and check if you were okay," Seth answered.

Amanda was still watching them with her mouth half opened next to me.

"Guys, this is Amanda. Amanda these are Jake, Embry, Quil and my brother, Seth." They waved at her.

"I've missed you so much, Leah!" Seth said, hugging me once again.

"It's really nice seeing how much the Clearwaters love each other," Jake said. "Now, where's the food? I'm starving!"

**XoX**

I was listening to Jacob, talking about how little work they had lately when Nick's voice interrupted us.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, glaring at Jake.

Jacob stood up, inching his chest at him and rolling his eyes. Jake was a few inches shorter than Nick, but he stood straight, eying him up and down. Their faces were close, almost touching. If someone pushed them a little, they would be kissing! That would be kinda funny.

It was incredible how the Alphas always acted in a daring way toward each other. Sam and Jake did it a lot whenever we had a meeting. But on that occasion, it looked quite different. They were both tall and muscular, and by the way they were eying each other, it looked like they would start fighting at any moment.

"Take it easy, guys. Why don't we all just relax," Alex said, stepping in between them, separating them.

Jake took a step backward. "I don't want to fight. I just came here to see my girl," he added, pointing to me.

Nick's eyes widened. After that comment he got angrier. He shoved Alex out of his way and walked toward Jake with clenched fists.

Alex, Noah and Elliott must have noticed his intention, because they immediately grabbed Nick and pushed him back.

"Relax, man!" Noah said. "You don't want to make a show, do you?"

Nick realized what was happening, what he wanted to do so he took a deep breath to relax. "Sorry I…"

"You were jealous! We all know," Cammie whispered to him.

He was going to reply but he didn't say anything. Instead he looked at me. He actually looked at me, not glared or stared. His eyes showed something I'd never seen before in him: sadness.

We all sat down at the table. The situation didn't get any better. My pack brothers couldn't stop looking at the hotties intensely and the other way round.

"Guys, these are Cammie, April and Kara," I said, pointing at the girls. "And these are Alex, Noah, Elliott and Nick." They all smiled except Nick who glared at Jake. "And these over here are my pack mates, Jake, Quil, Embry and my younger brother, Seth."

"You've never told us your pack mates were so cute, Leah. Especially your brother," April commented, smiling seductively at Seth who was blushing.

Embry tried to flirt too, after watching Seth's success with April. "Well, hello there, gorgeous!" he said to Kara.

"Get lost," she told him.

After a very intense lunch, we all decided to go play baseball, well, it was Nick who decided to play baseball. He was acting all Alphaish all the time, showing Jake who was the leader here.

"Are you sure you want to play? We play different than what you're used to," he said.

"We'll play, right guys?" Jake asked Seth, Embry, Quil and me.

"Um, Jake, they are really fast," I told him.

"I don't care, let's show this people we are the best!"

"So you're in?" a smirking Nick asked Jake.

"We're on!"

"Okay, then. April, Cammie, you're out of my team. You're the slowest and I want the fastest in my team!"

God this guy was taking this game too seriously!

"Excuse me!" Cam shouted to her brother.

"Sorry, Cam, but I want to win and I need the best players," he answered.

"Nick, it's just a game!"

"But I want to win!"

After an eternal fight between Cam and Nick we played. Well, they played. Nick's team won.

"That was interesting to watch," Nick said in a mocking voice while we entered the enormous boys' dorm; it was even bigger than the girls' room.

"Nick, why don't you shut up! Didn't you have a date with Brenda or something?" Cammie reminded him.

"Yes, but I'll cancel it. I want to get to know Leah's friends and boyfriend a little more."

"Boyfriend?" I asked.

"Him." He pointed to Jake.

I looked at Jacob who was looking back at me and then we started laughing.

"Nick, Jacob's my Alpha, and he's imprinted. Hell, I wouldn't date him if he wasn't imprinted either!"

"Actually, Leah's been single since Sam left her for her cousin..." My eyes widened and I turned to look at Jake who had just spoken too much.

"Sorry, Leah, I…I wasn't thinking!" Of course he wasn't thinking. He didn't think that was the problem.

"Sam?" Nick asked.

"It was a dude I dated some time ago. We were in love and he imprinted on my cousin. End of the story," I explained.

It was weird how simple it all came out of my mouth. I didn't even feel the pain I normally felt when speaking about Sam and Emily. It was a fact that I was so over him, and it was kinda funny that I hadn't thought about them until now when Jake mentioned it.

"You're single then?" Nick asked, his eyes never leaving mine.

I nodded.

"Okay. Now that we've clarified Leah's status, can we eat something?" Embry asked.

Nick looked away. He was acting different than how he did normally. He seemed relaxed, and happy?

"What if I make something to eat," I offered. I wasn't a good cook, but I needed to get away, Nick's stare was making me nervous.

I went to the kitchen that was in a different room. I search all the ingredients and started making the only thing I was good at. Pasta.

I'd been cooking for a little when Nick entered. "Do you need any help?"

"No."

"You sure?"

I nodded.

"Hey Leah, is food going to take long?" Jake asked, entering the kitchen, _shirtless_!

"Oh, come on, Jacob! Put a shirt on!"

"Why? It's hot in here!"

"He's right. It's really hot in here," Nick said, looking at me.

Jake left and I turned around to continue cutting some onions.

I heard Nick shift and I turned my head just in time to see him slip his sweater off, raising his shirt a little, showing his tanned, muscular stomach. He was probably fucking hot too, but him in both ways. I couldn't help but gape at him.

Under the blue sweater, he was wearing a white T-shirt that fit snugly over his muscled torso. His body was like a god's body. His arms were lean and muscled and his body was just perfect.

I felt stupid as I stared at him, so I turned my head, clearing my throat. I heard Nick laughed in a sexy way and my heart's beat sped up.

"Go ahead, you. Embrace my body," he said.

I had to fight the urge not to turn around and see that body of his again. _Stupid egocentric bastard!_

"You know you want to," he said. I could tell he was already smirking.

"No."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure you don't," he said as he laughed.

Damn him! I hated him!

I wasn't paying any attention while cutting the onions and I got a really deep cut.

"Ow," I mumbled, rushing over to the sink and running my finger under the water.

"What's wrong?"

I looked over my shoulder and saw Nick, leaning against the doorway shirtless. He approached me.

"Nothing," I replied, turning the water off because the bleeding had probably stopped, but it kept coming.

Stupid healing power, why wasn't it working?

"Let me see your finger." He was now right behind me. His chest pressed right up against my back.

"It's just a cut," I said. Nick took my hand in his and examined it. "I'm fine, really."

"Let me help you with that," he said.

And then he did something I'd never expected him to do in a million years. He brought my finger up to his lips and licked the tip. I winced because it stung, but also because it was kind of a kinky situation that made me feel very uncomfortable. Especially since the guy that was licking my finger was Nick.

I felt how my blood started to go to my intimate part as his tongue caressed my skin, and I stopped breathing when he took the whole finger into his mouth. Every time his tongue circled it, a shiver ran down my spine. I had my eyes locked on his the whole time, but he looked away after a moment and focused on my finger.

"It's healed."

"Hmm," was all I could say.

He let go of my hand and left.

Did he seriously just lick my finger?

**XoX**

"He licked your finger?" April burst out the next day in the corridor after I had told them what happened between Nick and me in the kitchen.

"That's so..." Kara started.

"Hot?" April said, interrupting her.

"...kinky."

"He so likes you"

I was going to reply, but was interrupted by Nick. "Hello, ladies. Leah." He turned to look at me, like if he was waiting for my greeting. "See you in class, Leah," he said, walking to the classroom.

I turned my attention back to the girls. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's in love with you!" April sang.

"Pfft. Yeah right!"

"I watched you two, and you should see the way he looks at you all the time," April commented.

"Filled with murderous rage?" I raised an eyebrow at them. "Since when is that a show of affection," I asked.

"Not with murderous rage!" She elbowed me playfully. "He looks at you like you're the most amazing human being ever! It's so cute!" April added, intertwining her hands and clutching them to her chest.

"Yeah, whatever you say. I don't like him, and he's dating Brooke so…"

"So? He doesn't love her. He's crazy about _you_," Cammie said.

We talked a bit more and then we entered the classroom. Nick looked up from the book he was reading and smiled at me. My face must have betrayed me and showed that I was confused because Cammie laughed at me.

I sat down on at the table in front of Nick's and I could feel he was watching at me. Although we weren't looking at each other, I felt my whole body shiver.

Suddenly a note landed in my table:

_**Are you hanging out with us today?**_

The note came from Cammie who was sitting next to me. When I looked at her, she made a face like "What do you answer?"

I wrote 'Yes' and passed her the note back. When she thought I wasn't watching her, she turned around to her brother and nodded.

Wait a minute! Did Nick ask her to ask me? Was he expecting to see me for some reason?


	19. Chapter 18

**Thanks to my dear friend, Kats Flower Girls, for sending me the part of the girls 'attacking' Nick. She wrote it and I liked it so much that I had to add that piece in the chapter.**

**Also, a special thanks to my wonderful beta, BelleDean. You rock, girl!**

* * *

**Chapter 18: He was a player.**

I couldn't focus on anything but Nick. The sharp angles of his face, his blue eyes or his amazing body always appeared in my thoughts, and it didn't help that he was acting so nicely with me.

This wasn't good. I was in trouble. I needed to stop thinking about him and feeling this knot in my stomach every time he looked at me.

I was walking to my next class when I heard Brooke's voice. I was about to turn the corner, walk past her and ignore her, but then I saw Nick with her and froze in place.

I shouldn't have stayed there but for some strange reason, I stayed in a hearing distance, my ears perking up to hear what they were saying.

"What's up with you? We didn't get to do anything, yesterday. And how could you say another girl's name when you were kissing me?" she asked.

"I didn't hang out with you yesterday because I had somewhere else to be. And I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't say another girl's name," he said.

"Yes, you did. I saw that bitch today, and I wanted to slap her."

"She's not a bitch," he seethed, his voice taking on a dangerous tone.

"So you admit that you like another girl," she accused him.

"I don't like any girl. Don't you get that I'm not into serious relationships? I don't want to waste my time on useless girls."

"So you're saying she's useless and not worth your time?" I could hear the self-satisfaction and the smirk in her voice. "Well, just so you know, she's a skank. She's probably slept with half the guys from the college," she commented, and it sounded like she was making it up as she went.

I heard him sigh. "No, that would be you," he retorted coolly.

"Nicky, do you want to lose me?"

"No. I want you to get lost, and never come back," he said flatly.

Brooke screamed with frustration and stomped off. I grinned at her reaction.

So they were over? And was he serious when he said he wasn't into any serious relationship?

**XoX**

Cam and I exited our last class.

"What are you doing here?" Cam asked.

Nick was in front of us, leaning against the wall.

"I was waiting for you," he answered, looking at me. He noticed Cammie was there too, so he cleared his throat and added immediately, "...for you two."

"See you two in the dorm later," Cammie said, laughing and walking away, leaving Nick and me alone.

Nick and I walked to Cammie's room. We were all going to meet there. During the walk we didn't talk much, although I was dying to ask him why he was acting this way toward me.

I caught him glancing at me from time to time, and whenever our eyes met he smiled. He looked so cute when he smiled a real smile and not that stupid smirk of his.

I slapped myself mentally for that thought. I had to stop from feeling this way about him before it was too late.

"Hi, Nick!" A brunette waved and winked seductively at him.

"Hi," he answered back, walking passed her but was stopped by the girl who threw herself into him, tackling him to the ground.

_Ignore them and continue walking._

But it was easier said than done. She started to kiss him and he wasn't trying too hard to stop her.

My body started to shake slightly. I took a deep breath to try to calm down, but it was worthless, when I looked at her trying to deepen the kiss, all I wanted to do was slap her.

**XoX**

We arrived to the girls' dorm, after Nick 'saying hi' to all his friends, which included a fucking full make out session to fifteen girls. Yes, I counted them!

He was such a man whore that it made my guts churn.

I really didn't know how I managed to stay in my human form. Every time a girl approached him, I just wanted to let my fur go and rip all their heads off.

Holy shit! I was completely sure what this feeling was. It wasn't just a simple crush. No. This was the big deal. Yeah! It had to be the big fucking deal! I could have just liked him, but no, fate or whatever was trying to screw with me wanted _this_ to be the big fucking deal.

I was…I was in fucking love with him.

When did this happen? I didn't know. How could I fall for him? I didn't know. What the hell was I thinking? I didn't know.

"Leah, we're here," he said.

"Whatever," I mumbled, entering the room.

Everyone was already there, luckily. I wasn't sure what I was going to do if I had to stay in an empty room with Nick.

I walked straight to sit down next to April, Cammie and Kara who were talking about some party that was taking place in two weeks. I pretended to be listening to what they were saying, but my mind was only thinking about Nick and the way all those girls had thrown themselves at him. It was like they were hiding, waiting for the moment Nick walked past them and they jumped to his arms.

For example, right there in front of me and everyone else, girl #9 somehow had managed to attach a thick Hemp necklace around his throat while they'd been busy sucking face. And then I couldn't help but notice how Nick had had his hands all over girl #11's unusually large chest.

Every time a new girl had attacked him, I'd tried my best to just ignore them and keep walking, pretending I hadn't noticed they were almost fucking while they were walking.

I was still impressed that I hadn't changed into my wolf form. I certainly had exercised a lot of control of my body or maybe it had been the fact that I'd noticed eventually that he'd pushed them away and continue walking with me. Every make out session had been getting shorter than the one before.

By the time #15 had come along, he'd pushed her away almost as soon as her lips had touched his and looked at me sheepishly. "Guess the news of my break-up with Brooke has spread pretty quickly."

I'd sighed in frustration, earning a concerned look from the girls who ignored me after I'd smiled.

Why did I always fall for the jerks?

**XoX**

"So you're coming today, right?" Cammie asked.

"I don't think so."

"You have to come! I think I won't be able to put up with another hour of Nick asking me about you."

"What?"

"He keeps asking me about you. He's like: 'Does Leah like this?' 'Which one do you think Leah prefers?'" she said, imitating Nick's voice. "I'm kinda tired of talking about you. Don't get me wrong, I love you, but having my brother, calling me every five minutes to ask about you is very tiring!"

"Maybe tomorrow we could hang out. I have a lot to do today."

I walked away but she grabbed my wrist, forcing me to turn and look at her. "Don't run from him because of his past. It's different with you."

She let me go and we walked our separate ways.

Nobody was in my room, which was a relief. I wanted to have a moment alone. I took off my sneakers and jumped on my bed, grabbed a book and as I opened it, there was a knock on the door.

I got up and walked to the door with a sigh. I opened it and there he stood, casually leaning on my doorframe.

"What are you doing here, Nick?"

"Do you want a rose?" he asked nonchalantly, ignoring my question. He handed me a red rose, fully bloomed and beautiful.

I blinked. "Uh…"

He shrugged, walking into the room and plunked himself down on my bed. "I was walking through the garden and that rose fell off, I picked it up and it pricked my finger. I thought you'd want it." He smiled.

"What do you want? Brooke is not here," I informed him.

"I know."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

He stood up, walking toward me, and stopped a foot away from me.

"Are you coming?" he asked, taking my hand and walking to the door, closing it behind us.

The first couple minutes were completely silent. I took this moment to observe him carefully. The first two buttons of his shirt were left undone. He was toned and my mind immediately wandered what he'd look like without his clothes on. I visualized his perfect six-pack abs. His expression was relaxed which made all of his facial features more beautiful.

"Where are you taking me? And why again did you come to my room?" I asked again.

"I was walking and ended up by your door," he answered vaguely.

I frowned. "Why? Why did you come here?"

He shrugged again. He was starting to annoy me with his uncertain answers and motions. "I felt like it," he said.

"You felt like it?"

"I was bored and decided to visit you," he finally said, as if it were the answer to everything.

"Why?"

"I just wanted to be with you, okay?" Nick looked annoyed. "I just… I wanted to be with someone...nice," he stammered, struggling to bring out the words.

"Well, Brooke seems to make you happy."

Nick suddenly stopped walking and turned to face me. His blue eyes were shining in the light.

"Leah, please. Not now. Right now, I don't want to think about her." He sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "Why have you been ignoring me?"

"I wasn't ignoring you."

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't!"

"Then why aren't you hanging out with us lately?"

"I have a lot of studying to do." That wasn't even a lie.

"Yeah, sure you do."

"Why do you care if I hang out with you or not?"

"Because I like- hanging out with you. We are friends now, aren't we?"

"I don't know."

Neither of us said anything for a while.

"Did I do something that bothered you?"

"No. It's just I don't get why you change your attitude toward me. You hated me and now we're cool. I don't get it."

"I'm sorry if I hurt you before. I was confused. But I like you, a lot."

My eyes widened.

"Leah, do you want to go on a date some time?" he asked.

"No."

"What? Why?" He looked at me with an astonished expression on his face, like he couldn't fathom why any girl in their right mind would turn down the chance to go on a date with him.

"What about Brooke?"

"Brooke's not my girlfriend anymore. I just dated her to…the girl that I like is y-"

My cell phone suddenly started ringing loudly in my pocket and we both jumped.

"Who is it?" Nick asked as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

I checked the caller ID. "It's Seth," I answered. I debated on whether I should pick it up or not.

"Leave it," Nick said in a whisper. I looked up, meeting his eyes. "That's a nice ring tone." He shrugged.

I glanced at my still ringing phone in my hand. "Maybe it's something important. It'll be only a minute." I answered the cell phone. "Seth? It better be something good."

"Hello to you too," he said. "I just wanted to know what your plans for Christmas were. Are you coming home?"

"Yes, Seth. I'll be there. But isn't it too soon to ask me this? I mean Christmas is in two months. Couldn't you have asked me this the other day when you came to visit?"

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you. Sorry. I was kinda busy talking to April, remember? Anyways, mom's organizing this huge party in La Push and-" I couldn't finish listening to my brother because Nick took my cell phone and started talking to Seth.

"Hello. I'm Nick. Hey, Seth! Sure, I'll be there. Thanks. It was nice talking to you again. Bye." He hung up and gave me my cell.

"24th at 8 pm. Christmas Party."

"What? Please tell me Seth didn't invite you, right?"

He smirked and nodded. "I like your brother. He's a nice kid," he said happily.

I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, he'll be the only one in my family who'll be nice to you," I informed him and started walking back into the direction of my dorm.

He followed me. "And you won't be nice to me?" He pouted.

"The only thing you're getting from me is hatred," I told him.

"Hey, that's affection," he said, grinning down at me.

"Not for me," I told him as I craned my neck to see those big, blue eyes, boring into mine.

He smirked. "You'll warm up to me."

"In your dreams," I mumbled angrily.

We reached my room. He leaned against the wall, smirking.

"In my dreams, the only thing I want to do is kiss you," he whispered, leaning down closer.

I backed away from him until I felt the door against my back, but he kept on coming closer. He was so near that I could feel his body against mine. He shut his eyes and tilted his head to the side, leaning forward – our lips nearly touching.

I reached for the doorknob, hastily turning it. I pushed it open and closed the door in his face.

"Leah!" he shouted from behind the door.

I'd closed the fucking door in his face when he was about to kiss me. I couldn't believe what I'd just done. But it was for the best. I liked him, but I didn't want to be just another girl on his list.


	20. Chapter 19

**This chapter is dedicated to my dear friend Kat (Kats Flower Girls). I love you and love that we both share the same birthday day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)**

**A special thanks to my amazing beta, BelleDean, who made this chapter so much better and clean. You rock!**

* * *

**Chapter 19: Your date is…?**

It was strange. He wasn't pissed at all. He didn't even asked why I closed the door on his face. Old Nick would have found a way to get back at me, glared the crap out of me or even tried to blackmail me, but two days had passed and still nothing had happened.

He sat down in front of me with his tray of food and smiled sweetly at me. Should I be worried about him? Was his friendly smile just a front while he hedged his plan on how to get back at me for rejecting him?

"So who are you going with, Leah?" April asked, taking me out of my thoughts.

"Going where?"

"To the party. It's this Friday," she answered in a duh tone.

"There's a party?"

"Leah, we've been talking about this party for days," April said. "I'm guessing you have no date for the party, eh?"

I shook my head. "I don't think I'll go anyways. I'm not much of a party girl."

"You have to go," April insisted. "This party is going to be amazing! I heard the best DJ in the state is going to come! Isn't that awesome?"

"Um, I'm not interested," I commented.

"What's wrong, Leah? You don't know how to dance?" Nick teased. And just like that the old dumbass was back. I knew it was too weird he hadn't gone on the offensive after what I did.

"Yes, I know how to dance, but I'm not interested. That's all."

"Sure…that's what a person who doesn't know how to dance will say."

"You know what? I'll go and show you, Nick."

April squealed and said, "We'll go shopping after school to buy your outfit then."

**~oOo~**

We were in my room. That afternoon, the girls and I had gone shopping for the perfect outfit to wear at the party, but after walking for hours I hadn't found anything, so the girls had decided to check my wardrobe to see if there was something I could wear.

I was sitting on my bed, watching my three friends matching clothes by color and styles. There weren't many clothes, but still they discussed every garment and managed to make a mess in the room.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Morgan walked in. At first, she looked pissed when she saw all the clothes strewn all over her bed and around the rest of the room, but then her eyes settled on the other girls in the room and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Um… what's going on in here?" Morgan asked, shocked.

"We're looking for the perfect outfit for Leah to wear to the party," Cammie answered her, smiling. "I'm sorry if we're invading your space."

"Um…no, it's okay."

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, pulling me to our bathroom. Once we entered it, she closed the door behind us. "You know _them_?" I nodded. "Why didn't you tell me? You know them all? The boys they hang out with too?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm in the college newspaper and my editor is always trying to interview them, but they never accepted… but if you know them then we could…" she continued to talk non-stop, about her having her own column and that she needed to write some interesting article to win some prize.

I was having trouble following her, because I was still shocked that she was talking to me. Since I'd move in with her, I'd heard her say no more than five words maximum, and now she was talking a mile a minute.

I frowned in confusion. Why did she want to interview them? Morgan must have understood my confusion because she stopped talking and started explaining.

"They are the best students around here, and they very interesting. Kara is the best player in all sports we have. April is an incredible artist. Noah is the top of his class in science; I bet he'll discover a cure for aids and cancer. Elliott's the strongest quarterback we ever had. Alex is a great strategist; I think he'll become president one day. Camille is so beautiful and nice, and Nick, well, I'll just interview him to be able to be in the same room as him for a minute," she said, dreamily.

There was a knock on the door.

"Sorry to interrupt, girls. Leah, we found two possible outfits and we need a little help deciding," April said, popping her head in the bathroom.

Morgan and I exited the bathroom. Cam and Kara were arguing about which dress was better.

Wait, did they say _dress_? I'd never packed a dress. Unless…_Alice_!

The two dress choices were one a long, black strapless dress and a short red dress.

"So which one do you prefer?" Kara asked.

_None of them?_

"You are going to wear a dress," Cam pointed out. I swear that sometimes she could read my mind.

"The black one."

"Yes! I knew she was going to pick my choice," Kara sang in Cammie's face.

"Well, then it's a tie, because I want her to wear the red one," April added, standing next to her cousin.

If it was a tie, that mean I didn't need to wear a dress?

"So…You'll decide then," the three girls said at the same time, looking at Morgan.

She was taken aback for a moment and then she commented, "I will decide which one she's going to wear on one condition. You'll let me interview you." The girls looked at each other and then nodded to her.

Morgan looked at the two dresses and then she said, "The red one."

I would have never guessed. I thought black was her favorite color since she was the resident goth and all. Practically all of her clothes were black.

**~oOo~**

I was sitting alone in the cafeteria, eating a snack; a sandwich, chocolate cake and a piece of pie. Meanwhile, the girls were doing the interview they'd promise to Morgan.

Somewhere behind me, I heard a group of girls giggling, but I ignored them while I continued chewing the chocolate cake.

"What are you doing here alone?" Nick's voice came near my ear, causing me to shiver.

He sat down in front of me, took my fork and dug into my chocolate cake, getting some chocolate round his lips.

"I, um…" Fuck! And fuck the butterflies in my fucking stomach. He looked so sexy; the way he licked his lips.

I kept my focus on his mouth for a moment, and then I looked up at him, meeting his gaze. His blue eyes sparkled as he caught me staring at him.

He leaned closer to me and as if I were hypnotized, I found myself leaning toward him too.

"Would you like to be my date for the party?" he asked, softly. "April said you diddn't have a date, so I could be."

My eyes widened. My brain wanted to shout yes, but instead I said, "No. Sorry! I'm already going with someone." I wasn't going to go with him just because he felt pity I didn't find someone.

"Who?" he asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Who am I going with? Um…"

Holy crap! I was screwed. He would find out I was lying.

_Come on brain, think of a boy who could possibly go with me…_

"Elliott!"

"Elliott?" he asked furiously. "You're going with Elliott?"

"Yes! What's wrong with that?"

"He's no good for you. He'll go with you but will disappear by the end of the night with another girl. He's a player for God's sake!"

"I can't believe you're saying he's a player when the _only_ player here is _you_!"

"I'm n-"

"Hi, guys!" Cam interrupted us. "What's up?"

"I think you shouldn't go with him," Nick repeated again, ignoring his sister.

"I don't care what you say or think. I'm going with him."

"He'll only use you, you know?"

"That's _my_ problem."

Cam was looking from me to her brother while we were talking.

"You're right. It is _your_ problem. I've already warned you. It's your life and you can do whatever you want," he said, standing up and walking out of the cafeteria.

"I will."

"What was that about?" Cam asked, sitting on Nick's place.

I sighed angrily. "He asked me to be his date for the party and I ended up telling him I was going with Elliott. What pisses me off more is that he's a hypocrite. The only player here is him!"

"Wow!" she breathed. "You two are more interesting than TV."

"By the way, Elliott doesn't have a date yet, right?"

"Leah, why did you say you were going with Elliott? Look, I love him, but Nick's right about him. He's not a good choice for a date."

"You're defending him because he's your brother," I spat at her.

"Look, Nick and Elliott are both very handsome guys, so yes, they date many girls. But Nick is different when it comes to you. HHHe's never felt what he feels about you. While Elliott, well, you're just a pretty face."

"How do you know how he feels?"

"I can read his mind, and I'm a girl. I know when a guy likes someone. And Nick's not interested in you, he's _crazy_ about you. Why do you think he acts this way towards you? He's ad confused as you are. He never fell in love with anyone before. That's why he's so unpredictable and acts like a hormonal girl. He wants you, but he doesn't know how to get you. You are different from all the girls he's ever dated."

"He hates me."

"He doesn't hate you. Trust me! You and Nick…" I looked at her and again she had this I-have-to-tell-you-something-but-I-don't-know-if-I-should look. "I shouldn't tell you this, but what the hell, you _need_ to know it." She leaned closer to me. "Leah, I have dreams...and you were in one of them. I normally don't dream, but when I do, it's about something that will happen. That was my dad's gift; whenever he fell asleep he dreamt about past, present or future things. His gift helped him win wars, know when someone was going to die, or know about a person's past. I guess I kind of inherited the gift, well, only part of it. I sometimes have dreams, he had them every day, and I can only see facts that will happen in the future. Anyway, I had a dream about you and Nick. And if all my dreams come true, which is a certain fact, yyyou'll be happy to know that Nick doesn't hate you. And he actually cares _a lot_ about you."

Cam could see the future? And she dreamt about me and Nick? "You're some kind of future teller or something like that?"

"No. I _sometimes_ see what will happen, not always. I don't have visions or premonition or anything like that either."

"And…um, what was the dream about?"

"That's something for me to know and you to wonder," she said, smirking. "All I'm telling you is that he doesn't hate you and the rest, well, you'll have to find it out by yourself. I'm not saying anything else."

I sighed. And I thought my relationship with Sam after he imprinted was difficult…

"So what are you going to do?" Cam asked.

"I guess I'll accept going to the party with Nick?"

"What? No way! Are you crazy?"

"What? Didn't you just tell me he didn't hate me? You were encouraging me to go out with him a minute ago!"

"Yes, I know. I love my brother and want you two to be together, but he has to learn that if he wants you, he'll have to fight for you. He needs to work harder to get you. You're not _any_ girl, you're _the one_. So let's just make him sweat a little. Remember he's been with Brooke just to make you jealous so why don't you make him taste a little of his own medicine?" She winked.

"What's your plan?"

"You'll go to the dance with Elliott."

"I hope Elliott is still available."

"Don't worry, he'll be available. I'll make sure he is."

**~oOo~**

Cammie and I decided it was better if we found Elliott and asked him to go with me to the party before Nick found out that it was all a lie. So we looked for him all over the campus, finally spotting him, flirting with some girls. Shocker!

"Elliott, we need to talk to you…_alone_?" Cam said, looking at the girls who left immediately.

Elliott turned to us with annoyance on his face. It seemed that we must have interrupted the chances he had with the girls. "It better be something important, Cam. I was this close to have those two." He used his thumb and index finger to show how close he was to getting the girls.

"What I'm going to tell you will make your day, I promise," she said. He raised an eyebrow, and Cammie continued, "Leah's going to be your date for the party."

Elliott looked surprised for a minute and then he turned to look at me and smirked.

"What if I already have plans for the party?"

"El, I know you have no plans so stop pretending you have a date. And just so you know, Leah told Nick that she was going with you, so you're going together. And that's final."

"You finally realized you can't live without me, eh?" Elliott smirked, looking at me.

"Keep dreaming!"

He leaned down closer but I brought my hand up to cover my lips.

"Just one kiss. I know you're begging for it."

I looked at him and said, "Only if you want a broken nose. I'm warning you, you'll never get one."

"Come on!" he said, leaning into my lips again.

_That was it!_ I hit him across the head.

"Ouch! You hit like a boy!"

"Let's just clarify some things. You even think of kissing me, you'll never have lips to kiss another girl after I bruise them till they bleed. You try to touch me _anywhere,_ I'll castrate you. Am I clear enough?"

Cammie was laughing beside me. Elliott smirked again. "I like girls with a temper."

**~oOo~**

When Friday arrived, I was fucking nervous. Not because I was afraid the plan was going to fail. This trying to make Nick jealous plan wasn't my style.

I wasn't sure it was going to work, but Cammie insisted everything was going to be okay, and I should just relax and enjoy the show.

Elliott would come pick me up, and when we arrived to the party, Cammie would make sure we did a big entrance that Nick, obviously, would see and which in turn would make him jealous. Then I'd flirt with Elliott the whole time and pretend I like him. That was basically the plan.

It was almost seven and Elliott hadn't arrived yet. I promised that if this guy stood me up, someone was going to die, and all the choices pointed at him.

He finally appeared ten minutes after seven. He was looking very handsome in his black tux. He led me to his car and to my surprise a blonde girl and a red-haired girl were in his backseat already.

What the fucking hell was going on here? Who were they and what the fuck were they doing?

"Is she the last to pick up, _Elli_?"

What the hell did she mean with 'the last to pick up'? Where there more girls he was picking up?

I turned to look at Elliott, who smirked at me and added, "We still have to pick up someone."

This 'let's make Nick jealous' plan wasn't working as we planned. After picking up his last two dates, who happened to be a tall, slim brunette and another blondie, we finally arrived at the party.

_Just wait until Cammie sees this! She will shout the hell out to these girls and then castrate Elliott. And I am going to help her. Hell, yes!_

As we entered the place lots of heads turned to look at us, well, to look at Elliott, walking in with five chicks and the _idiot,_ me,following them. At least, we made a big entrance.

As I looked around, I saw Cammie, Nick, Kara, Alex, Noah and April all elegantly dressed, talking in a corner. Their eyes widened in shock as they saw us entering the room.

Cammie was the first to walk toward me. And she wasn't happy. If looks could kill, it would save me lots of time and effort in my plans on killing Elliott.

"I'm sorry, Leah! That jerk's going to regret this! Trust me!" she said heatedly.

I looked up and next to her was Nick, he looked concerned. "Are you okay?" he asked me.

I nodded.

"Good." He smiled. "You look beautiful tonight," he added, eying me up and down.

"Come on, let's have a drink and talk about how we'll kill Elliott," Cammie said, dragging me to where the others were.

"Leah, you look amazing!" April shouted.

"I agree with her. You certainly look nice tonight, Leah," Noah said.

I looked to where Nick was and he was staring at me with a smile playing on his face.

"Elliott's stupid if he preferred those girls rather than being with you," Alex added, smiling. He then turned his eyes to Cammie and asked her, "Do you want to dance?" She nodded and they disappeared to the dance floor.

"April, do you want us to follow them?" Noah extended his hand towards April who took it and followed her cousin.

"I'm going for another drink. Do you want one, Leah?" Kara asked.

I shook my head. She left, leaving Nick and me alone. He looked furious. I followed his gaze and he was looking at Elliott who was laughing at something one of his dates said, unaware that all his friends were going to murder him later, if something was left of him after I was finished with him.

Nick cleared his throat, taking my attention back to him. "Do you want to dance?"

"What?"

"Do you want to dance?" he repeated in a murmur, stepping closer.

"I…uh…"

He took that as a yes, slowly wrapping his hands around my waist. I could feel a rush of warmth where his hands settled on my body. I awkwardly rested my hands on his shoulders, and we started swaying slowly to the sound of Edwin McCain's song 'I'll be'.

We spun around in circles. I looked up, only to feel the knots in my stomach intensify when I saw him staring straight into my eyes. I was suddenly aware of the lack of space in between our bodies. A shiver traveled up my spine. Nick didn't blink, his eyes burning.

I looked down, but with one finger under my chin he made me look back at him. He then leaned down, closer.

My stomach was flipping, expecting our mouths to crash. His lips were inches away from mine, and I could feel his warm breath across my face. He smelled like the scent of the forest after a heavy rainstorm. I leaned a bit toward him too, letting him know that I wanted to kiss him too. Suddenly, the song ended and 'Don't cha' by The Pussycat Dolls started playing. The change of music struck us like a hammer, breaking the strange trance.

"Sorry," Nick muttered as he suddenly pulled away, a bit flustered, stepping back. He blinked twice and shook his head as if to clear it.

"It's okay," I murmured, feeling the warmth that had enveloped me only seconds ago vanish.

Camille and April approached me and we started dancing to the sexy sound of the song. Nick walked away, joining Noah, Alex and Kara at a small table in a corner. We danced a couple of songs and then we joined the rest.

Everything was going perfectly well until Elliott walked toward us.

Nick stood up immediately and towered over Elliott. "What's wrong with you, huh? You know what, don't answer," he yelled at him, punching him in the face, making Elliott fall to the floor.

I felt how Cammie tensed next to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me behind her. This wasn't a good sign. That only meant that Elliott wouldn't give up the fight. As if reading my mind, he stood up, grabbed Nick by the hair and punched him in the face.

The music seemed to stop and before, they were in a fist fight, surrounded by people, chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Nick punched Elliott one more time, throwing him to the floor and this time when Elliott stood up he jumped onto Nick, sending them both through the window.

"You've got to be kidding me," Cammie growled. "Alex, Noah, try to separate them. April, make them invisible, and Kara help me stop everyone in this place to go outside."

I ran outside, trying to help Alex and Noah to separate them. I was behind Noah, trying to pull Elliott away from Nick. All of a sudden, I couldn't see anything as a heavy fog covered us.

That must have been April, making the boys _invisible_, using her gift. She could control the weather. It was really working because I couldn't see anything at all, not even with my wolf sight. But by using my hearing, listening to the sounds of fists hitting flesh, plus Alex and Noah shouting, I could follow the boys as they moved.

I walked toward the noise, getting closer to them because the shouting was becoming louder and louder with every step I took.

"Can you both stop? Just wait until Cammie gets you two, she's gonna kill you," April shouted from somewehere behind me.

"Where are you now? Are you hiding from me, Nick?" Elliott asked.

"Me? Hiding from you? Keep dreaming, Elliott."

"Oh! There you are!" Elliott yelled, and his voice sounded very close to me. It was like if he was next to me actually.

Next minute, I felt a deep pain in my head, and I fell to the floor.

"Leah?" Elliott asked.

"Leah! What have you done to her, you idiot? I'm gonna kill you, Elliott! If she's badly hurt, I'll kill you slowly, so you can feel every second of her pain," Nick shouted.

"Where is she? Is she okay?" Alex's voice asked.

I hear more footsteps coming near me.

"What happened?" a female voice asked. That was Cammie. "Noah, come here, help her heal. It looks like her wound is taking longer to heal."

I felt someone touching my face and the pain disappeared. I opened my eyes to see Noah, smiling at me. "Are you feeling better now?" he asked, helping me sit.

"Yeah. Thanks!"

"Your healing power was doing pretty much all the work. I just helped you deal with the pain."

"Are you okay?" Cammie said, hugging me. She then stood up and turned to Nick and Elliott who were standing next to each other, looking embarrassed. "What the hell is your problem? Luckily she heals fast, but imagine if the one you hit was a human. You could have killed someone. Why did you have to fight?"

"He started it. He hit me for no reason!" Elliott answered, pointing to Nick.

"No reason? You invited Leah and then you appeared with five other girls! You think that's no reason for me to hit you?"

"First of all, I can date all the girls I want. And secondly, I didn't ask her, Cammie and Leah ordered me to take her to the party to make _you_ jealous. So I never told her I was interested or anything."

"What?" Nick asked, looking at her sister first and then at me.

"Nick, I convinced her to do this-" Cammie said, but was cut off by Nick.

"Not now, Cammie. Why don't you all go check that everyone's okay?" With that they all ran away, except for Elliott. He took a step closer to me, and Nick growled.

"Relax, Nick. I'm only going to apologize to her." He held his hands up defensively, as if to say: "I mean no harm." Then he smirked and added, "I'm sorry, Leah. You're very beautiful and sexy, but our relationship is impossible, it could never work. Please forget me and move on. Oh, and next time you want to make Nick jealous, please pick someone else." He opened his arms for me to hug him, but Nick stood in front of him.

"Okay, I'm leaving now. Sorry!"

Nick turned around to look at me. "Are you okay?" He sat down next to me. "So…" He chuckled.

"Let me tell you that what Elliott said is not true. I've never been jealous."

"Sure." I wasn't looking at him but I could sense him smirking. "Look, I'm sorry if I ever hurt you. I've never intended on doing it. That's the last thing I want to do to you. And what happened today, well, I deserved it. So why don't we start over?" I looked at him, trying to see if there was any hint of a lie. "I'm Nick." He put his hand for me to shake it. I looked at him like he was crazy. "Come on! I'm trying here."

"I'm Leah," I said, shaking his hand.

"Nice meeting you, Leah," he said, staring at me with sparkling blue eyes.

"I can't believe we are doing this," I muttered to myself. I wished that April's fog was still making us invisible because I was sure that if he would continue looking at me like that I might end up blushing.

"Leah," he whispered. "I really like you and I want to be with you."

I turned my gaze to the floor shaking my head 'no'. "Nick, we… I don't know you. And you changing your mind all the time is-"

"Can you let me finish, please? I really like you, _a lot_. I think I could fall in love with you."

"Nick, I-"

"Shut up," he ordered. "Please, Leah. Can we be friends? I want to show you that I'm here for you."

_Friends? He just wants to be my fucking friend?_

"Yeah. Why not? Friends…cool," I said, pretending I was okay with it.

"Cool. I like you as a friend, Leah."

"Great," I said, giving him a fake smile.

"Okay. Now, I'll walk you to your dorm; you look tired." As I stood up, I felt dizzy. Nick grabbed me by my waist and helped me to steady myself. Being hit by a werewolf for me, felt like being run over by a car for a human.

"Leah, hold onto me, I'll carry you."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"Come on!" He picked me up bridal style.

"Okay, but if we crash into a tree I will break your ankles."

"Fair enough," he said and started running full speedy.

I closed my eyes as the warmth of his chest surrounded me. I felt the wind touching my face, making me fell like I was flying.

When I opened my eyes, we were in front of my room. Nick let me to the ground.

"Goodnight, Leah." He kissed my cheek and walked away.

I jumped into my bed as soon as I entered my room, not even bothering to change into my pajamas. Once my head touched my pillow I fell asleep. All I remembered before closing my eyes was about how stupid I was for accepting to be his friend when I wanted to be so much more than that to him.


	21. Chapter 20

**Thanks to my beta, BelleDean, for helping me so much in this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 20: Running with wolves  
**

The day after the party, Nick and I spent the whole day together, getting to know each other. It was strange but I felt comfortable when I was with him. We talked about everything, and Nick finally opened up to me and told me about how close he was to Cammie and the others, who he considered his family. He also said he had a sister he wasn't very close to. And he told me that he grew up without a mother, until his father married Cammie's mother who he loved very much.

But even though we could be considered as friends, that wasn't the correct word to describe our relationship, because friends didn't like each other in a romantic way, and friends, definitely, didn't look at each like he did look at me with those sparkly blue eyes.

I was walking to the cafeteria where I was going to meet him again to spend yet another day together as _friends_. I sighed. I was already hooked on him, and I doubted that I could escape his sweet charms.

Suddenly, a warm hand covered mine, making me jump in surprise.

"What the hell?" I shouted, turning to look at Nick.

"Did I scare you?" he said, smiling. "Come on, I want to show you something." He started to run to the woods, I followed behind.

When we arrived there, we were greeted by Alex, Elliott, Noah, Kara, April and Cam.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

"We're going to run."

This was what he wanted to show me? As if he had read my mind, he explained, "The best way to run faster in your wolf form is by running in your human shape. Come on, don't give me that face! It'll be fun!"

He took my hand in his again, and pulled me deeper into the forest, followed by the rest of the gang.

We ran for hours, going from one end of the woods to the other. At the beginning, they all ran at my pace, but then they all speed up, leaving me alone with Nick. The way my muscles would push harder to keep up with Nick's speed was painful, but then little by little they adjusted to the rhythm, making me feel as if I was in my wolf form. But that feeling lasted for a short time. When we were in the middle of the forest, I couldn't run any longer, all my muscles were hurting.

"Nick, I need to rest. Give me just a minute," I managed to say in between hard breathes. "Aren't you tired?"

"No."

I raised an eyebrow. "You don't need to pretend with me, you know?"

"I'm not pretending. We werewolves can run long distances and never get tired."

"Is there anything you can't do? Anything you're bad at?" I asked, sitting on the ground, stretching my legs.

"Nothing that I know of. We are better than shape-shifters, eh?"

"You wish."

"Well, it's true. We are stronger, smarter, more beautiful and faster than you."

"Maybe you're all those things you say but faster than me when I'm in my wolf form, I doubt it. I bet I can kick your ass with my eyes closed."

"You honestly think you have a chance against me?"

"You or any other werewolf."

"Okay. I'll race you back to college then," he challenged.

"As if you'd win," I replied, getting up.

"So what if I do?"

I hesitated. "I'll do whatever you want for the entire day tomorrow."

Nick grinned. "You know you're taking a big risk?"

"Only because I know you'll never be able to beat me. When I'm on my wolf form no one can run faster than I do," I answered confidently. "And what will you do if I win?"

"I'll treat you to some ice cream later tonight."

"That's it? That's not fair! That's like nothing compared to my wager."

He shrugged.

"Fine. It's a deal." I stuck my hand out and he shook it, firmly.

I walked behind a tree, took of my clothes and phased.

Nick smiled as he looked at me in my silver fur.

"Ready?" he asked as he stood next to me. I nodded my wolf face. "Go!" he said, catching me off guard.

I ran after him. He was fast, but I was catching him soon, pushing my legs harder. We were running so fast that soon we were near the college surroundings, the end of the race. I pushed myself even harder, digging my nails in the ground. Soon I was passing him only by a couple of inches, but that would be enough to win.

I was so concentrated in the goal in front of me that I didn't pay attention to my surroundings, and didn't see the deer, running in my direction as it tried to escape from us. I managed to dodge it but due to the velocity I was going at and the sudden braking movement, I fell on my side and crushed against a tree.

I got up immediately, running back to where Nick was already waiting with a smile on his face. I walked to a nearby tree and phased back, pulling my clothes on.

Nick had the widest grin stretched across his face. I quickly cut in before he got a chance to speak. "I want a rematch! That was unfair! There was a disturbance!" I said.

"Nope," he said lightly, popping the 'p' and shaking his head. "You lose! Now what was the prize again? Oh, yes! You'd do whatever I want for the entire day tomorrow, right?"

"Nick, there were extenuating circumstances," I argued.

"Whatever I want," he continued saying, shaking his head obstinately.

"Nick," I growled dangerously.

"Whatever I want," he replied cheerfully, laughing as he turned and walked away.

**~oOo~**

"Good morning, Leah," a familiar, deep voice greeted me from behind.

I turned my head to see Nick, grinning. His eyes twinkled with a certain mischief that I was immediately wary of.

"What?" I asked him.

He looked away, the grin still plastered on his face. "Well, according to your words yesterday, today is the day that you'd do whatever I want, right?"

I felt my lips twist into a scowl, my suspicions confirmed. "It was unfair, Nick," I complained. "There were complications!"

He shrugged. "A lot of things in life are unfair," he said mysteriously as his eyes unfocused, clearly recalling an unpleasant memory from the past. "But anyways, can you pass me the milk?" he said, pointing to the neat array of small milk cartons to my right, his eyes laughing.

I reached over and forcefully pressed the cool carton into his outstretched hand, making sure the edge of the carton dug into his palm.

And so the morning progressed slowly, with Nick annoying me every single minute he could get. As simple as his wishes were, they irked me to no end.

He asked for all sort of stupid things, to which I did with a deep scowl.

By lunch, I was ready to take him to the top of a mountain and bury him alive where no one would ever find him.

"Can you get me a glass of juice?"

I growled, resisting the urge to slap that stupid smirk of off his face. "Fine," I uttered, pushing my chair back.

What pissed me off almost more than his silly requests, was that stupid smile he had plastered on his face all day long. He was definitely enjoying this.

"Satisfied?" I muttered, slamming the glass down on the table and making the liquid inside rise dangerously near the rim.

Nick turned and looked me straight in the eye. "Not really. There's still something else I want," he said candidly, his gaze lingering. "Come on, let's go! I want to go for a run." He stood up, walking in the direction of the woods.

I sighed and followed Nick back outside into the woods. I slowed and stopped where Nick was, standing next to him. He had an unusual look on his face.

"Uh…" I started, but before I could finish, he had already ran off and was making his way deep into the forest.

I followed him shortly in my human form, keeping my distance. Finally, he came to a stop, and I stopped behind him.

"What are you doing?" I asked confused.

Nick shrugged, looking out over the trees. "It's nice in here," he said. He sat down and closed his eyes.

"What the hell, Nick?" I muttered, staring down at him.

"Sit," he ordered without opening his eyes.

"What?"

He opened his eyes to look at me. "I said, sit. Is your brain so dysfunctional that you can't even register a simple command?"

Well, that sounded more like the Nick I knew. With a sigh, I sat down as well, hugging my knees to my chest.

We stayed silent for a few minutes. I didn't even know why I had actually complied to go along with Nick's bet. It really did piss me off, having to be his personal servant, but part of me was happy to spend more time with him; of course, I'd deny it.

"What are we doing here?" I asked again.

Nick didn't reply at first. "It's nice in here," he repeated.

I rolled my eyes. "You've already said that before."

He sighed. "It's been awhile since everything's been so peaceful and quiet." He looked up at the cloudy, gray sky. "I can finally hear myself think, and there's no one around to bother me."

"I'm here," I said bluntly.

He looked at me and cracked a small smile. "I like having you around me."

He'd uttered the sentence in such a sincere tone that I almost believed him. I forced myself to look away. His arms touched mine slightly and I felt my stomach flip.

"I'll make you a second deal," he spoke quietly. I stared at him with wide eyes. "If you just do this one last thing I ask you to do, then you'll be free for the rest of the day."

"What do you want?"

A small smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. His voice dropped, and he was speaking no more than above a whisper. "I want you to kiss me."

My heart leapt to my throat. _What_?

Nick was staring straight at me. He reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair away from my cheek with his hand, and I could feel the electricity spark from where he had touched me. Our heads moved closer until we were kissing.

His warm lips on mine sent a strangely pleasant sensation through me. I could feel the current running from his body to mine, the flaming heat. His hands went to my waist, pulling me closer to him, and my hands wrapped their way around his neck as he deepened the kiss.

No one had ever kissed me like this before. Not even with Sam I felt this good.

I pulled away slowly, breaking the most intense kiss I'd ever had. Nick was looking at me, his eyes still burning, his face betrayed a whole range of emotions.

"I-I, um..." I scrambled backwards and forced myself to stand up. "I have to... I have to...go," I muttered lamely, and I took off, leaving him, sitting in the middle of the woods.

I raced down faster than I had ever gone before. It scared me that this feeling was stronger than what I had with Sam. It really did.

"_I like having you around me." _His words echoed in my head. I finally stopped the run. There was no denying it, I was head over heels with Nick, and there was no denying it now.

I tried avoiding him for the rest of the day, but being in the same college and having the same friends wasn't helping much.

"Where have you been? I thought you were attacked by deer or something," Nick's annoyed voice sounded from behind me.

I looked up, stepping backwards in alarm. He was standing in front of me, looking very irritable.

"Leah, where have you been? We've been looking for you all afternoon. Is everything okay?" Cammie asked.

"I wasn't feeling good," I mumbled.

Nick sighed exasperatedly. "Well as long as you're okay now. Come on, we are going to play pool!"

I glanced at him quickly. His countenance revealed nothing at all, and his eyes were too mysterious for me to decipher anything. He was acting as if nothing had ever happened between us. That confused me, it was as if the kiss had never happened.

I silently followed them to the campus game room. There were a few people there, a couple playing ping pong, and some boys watching TV on the couch. We walked over to the empty pool table and each one of us picked up a cue stick.

"Do you know how to play?" Alex asked.

"No," I admitted, taking a cue stick, watching as he arranged the balls in the triangle.

"Okay, we'll play girls against boys. The losers pay for the pizzas. Come on, Leah, we'll show you how to kick their asses," Kara said.

She explained the basics of pool, like how to hit the ball and the main rules.

Nick was the first one to play. He leaned over the table and struck the cue ball expertly, scattering the other fourteen balls across the table. I watched him sink in four balls before he missed a hit by a few inches. He finally looked up at me.

"Go," he said.

I had no fucking idea how I was going to make the ball enter the pocket. I tried to remember how Kara told me to hold the cue stick and aimed for the white cue ball. My strike was so terrible that I didn't even hit the white ball.

Nick chuckled. "That's not how you hold a stick," he said, walking over by my side. "Move your right hand up here and hold it like this." He demonstrated, leaning over and taking my hand into his.

I flinched from the sudden rush of heat. He covered both of my hands with his, and together, we struck the cue ball, sinking the five-ball into the corner pocket.

"Thanks," I mumbled awkwardly. Nick slowly let go, almost reluctant. He, however, didn't move from his spot right behind me.

"Do you want to talk?" he whispered.

"No, not really," I whispered back.

"Leah, please." He sighed. He moved so that he was standing next to me, leaning against the pool table. "Come with me." He took my hand and led me in the direction of the bathrooms.

"I don't have anything to say," I said.

"You have nothing to say? Was the kiss seriously nothing to you?" Nick sounded agitated. For once, he was letting his emotions show.

"Yes, I have nothing to say, because apparently the kiss meant nothing to you as it didn't mean anything to me."

"What the hell are you talking about?" He sounded angry now.

"It was just a kiss, Nick!" I could hear my own voice escalating.

"Just a kiss? It-"

"Nick, I know I'm not the first girl you've ever kissed before so don't pretend like it meant something." I cut him off. "For all I know, you are like a hormonal teenage boy with desires! You kissed Brooke and I don't know how many other girls just for fun!"

"Brooke? Why are you bringing her up? Did you honestly think I liked her?" There was a wild look in his eyes.

I wasn't going to tell him that the only reason I'd brought up Brooke was because I didn't want to tell him the truth…that I was scared of my feeling for him.

"I know you won't believe me, but with you, there in the forest, it was something! Are you really that thick?" I ignored him and walked away. "You're mad," Nick said mockingly, following me.

"You're irrational," I retorted.

"I think we've already established that a while ago," Nick said, suddenly running in front of me and blocking my path.

"Move," I muttered.

"Look me in the eye and tell me it meant nothing."

I jerked my head up, staring into his eyes. I opened my mouth, preparing to deliver another comeback, but I couldn't do it. Nothing came out. I couldn't bring myself to say he wasn't right…that it meant nothing to me.

"I knew you couldn't do it," he whispered as he stepped closer.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. He stepped closer to me, and grasped my forearm. "You can't possibly be that oblivious to my feelings... unless you really don't like me which I know is impossible."

"How can you be so sure?" I tried to snap at him, fully aware that he was still holding onto me.

He laughed. "I can hear your heart rate increase every single time I come close to you. Why can't you see there's something going on between us?" he asked in a husky voice, his grip tightening minutely.

"I can't. You'll hurt me, just like Sam did," I admitted.

Nick suddenly gripped my shoulders, forcing me to look up at him. "From what you've told me about him, I think he's an asshole, so don't you dare compare me to him! Don't even mention him again." He really sounded angry. "Unless you still have feelings for him…"

"No," I immediately exclaimed. "I don't have them anymore."

"What's so wrong about being with me then?"

"I've told you. You'll just hurt me," I blurted.

He sighed, and lowered his head.

"Just give me a chance to show you I'm not going to hurt you. What about we have a date this Friday?" he asked, his eyes pleading with me.

Alex suddenly appeared behind us. "Guys, is everything okay? I thought you may be dead or something…"

"Everything's okay," Nick answered.

I looked back at him and nodded my head, letting him know that I was accepting his invitation for that date. He smiled and we walked back to the pool table where Kara was striking the last ball, making the girls win.

I guess this was my lucky night –free pizza and a date with Nick.


	22. Chapter 21

**A big thanks to my beta BelleDean!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 21: The date, the secret and other confessions.**

Camille and I were walking to her bedroom. The girls had offered to help me prepare for my date with Nick.

April and Kara were already there with possible choices for my outfit, make-up, accessories and other stuff as we walked into the room.

Oh, lord! This was going to be a very long afternoon…

"Undress and try these on," April said, giving me some clothes; dresses, skirts and some blouses.

I tried on everything they selected, but nothing seemed to be my style. It was too short or too long, or too blue, or too red.

"Oh, God! She's going on a date, not to work at a strip-club," Cammie said as I exited the bathroom in the latest outfit.

It was the last one they'd brought along and it looked like there was nothing for me to wear for my date.

Suddenly, my cell phone's ring tone started to play. I didn't pay attention to the ID and answered.

"Hello?"

"Leah! You didn't find an outfit yet?" a female voice asked.

"Alice? Is that you?"

"Of course, silly! Who did you expected?"

"Um… how do you know I need an outfit?"

"Although you haven't called your friends in a while, we know everything that's been going on in your life. Jake and Seth keep us to date on what's going on in our life. Don't be mad at them, they mentioned something about a date. Anyways, I think it should be by your door in three, two, one…"

On cue, somebody knocked on the door.

"Leah Clearwater?" a uniformed man asked when I opened the door.

"That's me."

"This is for you. Could you please sign here?" He showed me with his finger where he wanted the signature. "Thanks. Have a nice day." He gave me a big white box and left.

I took the box with one hand and placed it on the bed. The other was holding my cell to my ear.

"What do you think? I bought it online, and I didn't touch it, so you have no excuse for not accepting it because it won't smell. Rose picked the accessories and shoes."

"How did you know where to send it?"

"Jake and Seth mentioned you spent a lot of time with some friends. Now, go, get dressed and have fun," she said, hanging up the phone.

I sat on my bed and opened the box. I was waiting to find a fancy dress, something I would never wear, but instead I found a simple, white sundress.

I took it and ran to the bathroom to put it on. It fit perfectly. It was neither too long nor too short.

When I walked out of the bathroom, the girls nodded their heads approvingly. I went to look in the box where I'd seen a pair of white high heels, and a beautiful necklace.

"Wow! It's a sapphire," April said in awe.

"Who are Alice and Rose?" Kara asked, holding a little note that said 'Enjoy the night'.

"Some _friends_."

~oOo~

April was finishing my make-up, when there was a knock in my door. I started to feel butterflies in my stomach, thinking it was Nick who arrived early to take me to the date. But when Kara opened the door, Noah walked in.

"Wow, Leah! You look beautiful. Nick's a very lucky guy," Noah said, his eyes widening a little bit. "I'm here just to check everything was okay over here. You women normally take a lot of time, preparing yourselves, so just checking everything was fine this side. Nick's already ready and quite anxious to come pick you up."

As Noah's words of Nick came out of his mouth, I started to feel anxious too. My heartbeat was beating so hard that I was afraid that it might come out of my chest at any moment.

_This wasn't a good idea! I shouldn't have accepted! I hadn't been on a date since…I couldn't even remember when my last date was. Now that I was thinking about it, I was freaking out!_

The girls and Noah noticed I was about to have a panic attack, and to distract me, they started giving me some last minute advice.

"First of all, be yourself. Nick likes you because you are _you_," Cammie said.

"Let him pay for you if he offers. Guys don't like it when girls pay for themselves, well, some guys, like me," Noah added.

"Don't get anything to eat that will give you bad breathe, even if you aren't going to kiss him, you still talk. So here, take these mints," Camille said, giving me a small box of mints.

"Oh! Don't forget to laugh all his jokes, no matter how horrible they are. Men like to know they can make us laugh." April winked at me.

There was a knock on the door. Noah instantly ran to it and looked through the peep hole.

"It's Nick," he mouthed.

"Act casual," Cammie whispered. We all ran to a spot. I sat on a chair, grabbing a book, pretending I was reading. Camille grabbed the remote, turned the TV on, and sat in between Noah and Kara who were on the couch, while April lay on the table, striking a pose.

"April, we want him to think we're just hanging out, not trying to seduce him!" Camille said. "It's open!"

Nick opened the door, smiling. When he saw my dress, his eyes widened.

"Leah, you look…wow!"

"Thanks. You look _wow_ too. I guess."

I stood on the tip of my toes and kiss his cheek, and at that moment, flashes erupted.

_What the hell?_

Alex and April were behind Nick and me with cameras taking pictures of us.

"What do you think you're doing?" Nick and I said in unison.

"Aw! Aren't they adorable talking at the same time?" Alex said.

"Can you stand over there? The light's better," April said, moving Nick and me from where we were standing.

"Can we leave now, before they start making us pose for the pictures?" Nick whispered in my ear, making me shiver.

I nodded. He took my hand and led me outside, to his car.

~oOo~

We drove up to an Italian restaurant not too far from campus.

"I'm really glad you agreed to this date. I was worried you'd say no," he said, without looking at me. "I promise you won't regret it. Now, wait in here." He walked over to my side of the car and opened the door for me. He took my hand and we walked to the restaurant.

When we got into the restaurant, a small man came to great us. "Ah! Mr. Nicholas, so glad to see you again! I see you brought another companion today. She's as lovely as the other girls," he said with an Italian accent.

_Other girls? He brought other girls here?_

"Francesco, this is Leah. The girls stayed on campus tonight, but I doubt they'll be able to resist not knowing how our date is going. TTThey like Leah a lot. If they come around, could you please distract them or something?" Francesco nodded. "Thanks."

Francesco led us to our table, handed us the menus and left.

"When you said _the girls_, you were referring to Kara, April and Cammie, right?" I asked Nick.

"Of course. Who did you thought I was talking about?" He gazed me over the top of his menu.

I shrugged. I didn't want to tell him I though that I'd been convinced our dear host was referring to his endless string of conquests.

"Stop thinking about them," he said.

"About who?"

"All the girls I dated, stop thinking about them, and forget the Nick who was a total jerk."

I was really trying to stop thinking about his other dates, but it was really hard.

"Leah, I've never dated before. You're the first one I took out for dinner, apart from Cammie, Kara and April. Actually, they invited me here. They found this place and thought it would be perfect for our date," he said, taking my hand, squeezing it slightly. "I don't want to date anyone that's not you."

"Hi, I'll be your waiter tonight." I stared at the tall, handsome guy standing next to our table who'd interrupted us. "My name is Nathan, but you can call me Nate." He winked at me. "Can I start you off with any drinks?"

Nick glared at the waiter. He was oblivious to the way this guy was looking at me.

"I'll have a glass of wine," I said.

Nathan reluctantly faced Nick. "And you?"

"Wine as well." Nick looked like he wanted to punch the guy.

Nate nodded and left.

A few minutes later, he came back and set the drinks down on the table. He immediately turned to me, earning a growl from Nick. "Have you decided on what you'd like to eat?"

We ordered our food and I was glad that Nathan finally left us alone. He was a cute guy, but the way he was flirting with me made me kinda nervous. I wasn't used to getting that much attention from a man.

"Leah?"

"Yes?"

"Do you like the waiter?"

"No. Why?"

"Um, nothing…"

"Come on! Tell me."

"It's just…he's looking at you with so much lust and desire..."

"Is somebody here a bit jealous?" I decided to tease him.

"Of course not! I'm insanely jealous! Leah, I'm in love with you. There I said it. And seeing how this guy is eying you all the time makes me want to go and rip his head off," he said, shaking.

I was going to answer that the only person I was interested in was him when Nathan came back to our table with the desserts. Nick looked like he was sitting at the edge of his seat, ready at any minute to pounce at Nathan and bite his head off.

"Here are your desserts. If you need _anything_ else, let me know."

"Okay, buddy! You asked for it." Nick stood up and looked Nathan straight in the eye. "I _forbid_ you to talk to her, to _look_ at her in any way! More simple, why don't you disappear?" Nick's ordered. His voice sounded so strong and powerful that it scared me a little bit. It sounded like an Alpha command.

But what surprised me even more than his voice was that Nathan turned around and left the restaurant.

I turned my eyes to Nick. What the hell had he done? The expression on Nathan's face right before he'd bolted out of the restaurant eerily reminded me of the look on the faces of my fellow pack members after Sam had shouted one of his alpha commands to us.

"Leah, I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Nick, what just happened?"

"I didn't want to do it, but I had to. I hate using it… but he was looking at you and I-"

"Nick, what did you do? Why did the waiter leave after you said that?"

"I used my gift, Leah. My gift is…to command. I make people do what I want. I hate using it. I hate taking people's free will away from them. I just use it when I want something really badly."

I sat on my chair, trying to process all the new information. I knew Nick had a gift, but he had never told me what it was, and now I think I had an idea why.

"Did you ever try it on me?"

He looked at me, and I could see the guilt in his eyes. "I tried… but I think it doesn't work on you."

"What do you mean?"

"I think that whenever I used it, I really didn't mean to order you. I wasn't really focused on making it a command. Leah, I'll never force you to do anything you don't want," he said. "We shouldn't talk about this here. There's a garden in the back. Why don't we go for a walk?" We both stood up and walked to the back of the restaurant where there was a small garden.

I took a look at the park in front of me. There was a path, covered in yellow and brown leaves which led to a stoned fountain. There were some trees too, placed at the sides of the path. And a few feet behind the fountain, there was a white, wooden bench under a tall oak tree.

We walked in silence, following the path to the bench.

There was something that was bothering me and I had to ask. "Have you ever commanded somebody to love you or date you?"

"You think I'm forcing you or forced someone to like me?" he asked, getting a little angry. "You think that low of me?"

"Nick, I've known you for a couple of months now, and I know that you can be a little authoritative sometimes. You use it when you want something really badly. You just said it!"

"Is that the only thing you know about me? I know you think mac and cheese is the best thing ever created. You would rather live in fantasy than reality although you'll deny it, you like sports, you despise imprinting, you like the stars, the moon and the beach. I know all I need to know about you!" he practically yelled.

"I didn't say that was the only thing I know about you! You like writing, you like brunettes, your favorite thing in the world is Mexican food. You love your sister, and your friends. Your eyes get darker when you're mad. You like letters instead of e-mails. I can go on forever!" I yelled right back.

"You missed one," he commented more calmly now.

"What?"

"That you are the only girl I ever got extremely jealous over, the only one I always think about, and the only I'll care for." I could tell he meant it.

"You mean it... so you're saying..."

"Leah, I lo-" he was cut off from saying the three most important words in the dictionary of relationships by me. I covered his mouth right before he said it.

"Don't say it. Even if you do mean it, don't say it now. I'm not sure I'm quite there yet. And I want it to be mutual. Just wait a little bit for me," I said and moved my fingers away from his lips.

"Well, but you know it," he added.

"I know, but when we say it at the right time I'll know this is for real."

"Well, that's not going to stop me from what I'm going to do next."

"What do you think?"

"I'm going to come and put my arms around you, tell you that you are amazing, and then kiss you."

"I'm not that amazing," I said as he put his arms around me.

"No, but you're pretty damn close." He moved our heads closer and kissed me.

Some kisses were passionate, others soft. Some were more enjoyable than others. I'd had some really good kisses in my life, but this one… this one was definitely my number one.


	23. Chapter 22

**Thanks to my beta BelleDean!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 22: Leah and Nick.**

The kiss was soft yet passionate. I felt like I was melting away in his arms, each millisecond. It was a good thing he was holding me or else my legs might have given in.

I wrapped my arms around Nick's neck, running my hands through his soft hair. Nick slowly placed his hands gently upon my waist, as if afraid to break me. His lips moving against mine felt as if I died a hundred times and went to heaven.

He deepened the kiss, running his tongue along my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I parted my lips, his tongue sliding inside. The kiss quickly became something different. Gone were the sweet touches and soft nips and licks. The pace became frenzied, both of us fighting for dominance, for control…until I felt out of breath and we broke apart. We stared at each other, gasping for air.

A smile was planted on his face, as we gazed into each other's eyes. He took a step away when we heard a man clearing his throat.

"Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Nicholas. But we are about to close," Francesco interrupted.

"Sorry, Francesco. Let me settle the tab and we'll leave," Nick said, intertwining our hands.

We walked back to the restaurant. Nick paid and we left, walking to the car with our hands intertwined.

The drive to college was much different than the one to the restaurant. We were both comfortable and we talked about ourselves.

I was surprised at how easily it was talking to him, and how much I told him about me. I even talked to him about my family and how my dad died. To my surprise Nick's dad had also died, he didn't explain why but I was happy that he was finally opening up to me like I was with him.

When we got in the dorms, Nick parked his car and we walked to my room. He had his arm around my waist, and I had to stop the shivers going down my spine every time his hand squeezed it.

No other men ever made me feel what I felt every time Nick looked me in the eyes or touched me. Not even Sam made me feel like this. Now, I knew for a fact that I really, _really_ liked Nick.

"Thanks for such a great time tonight. Good night," I said when we were in front of my door.

"I had a great time too. Good night, Leah." He smiled, leaning toward me. "I like you," he whispered and gave me a small kiss before I got in my dorm.

The minute I entered my room, I saw three girls talking with Morgan. Yes. April, Cam and Kara were talking to Morgan pretending I wasn't standing there; like I didn't know they'd been listening through the door, trying desperately to hear every word we'd exchanged.

They finally turned around when I took off my shoes, looking at me with big smiles.

Oh Lord! This was going to be a long night.

**~oOo~**

When I woke up later the next day, the first thing that caught my eyes was a red rose and a note next to my pillow.

**Meet me in the cafeteria.**

**Like you,**

**Nick.**

The note made me smile.

I took a quick shower and ran to the cafeteria. It didn't take me long to find Nick. He was leaning against the wall near the cafeteria entrance. When he noticed me walking toward him, a big smile appeared on his face.

"Hi."

"Hi," he greeted me, placing a quick kiss on my lips.

"I saw your note. Thanks!"

"I'd planned on giving it to you personally, but when I got to your room, your roommate, Morgan, told me you were still sleeping. She said you and the girls had spent the night talking about our date," he said, smirking.

"They wanted to know how it went."

"And how did it go, Leah? Was it good? Are you ready for repeat?" he asked, placing his hands around my waist, bringing me closer to him.

"Well, how about I answer to you tonight?"

"I can't. I've already have plans for tonight."

"Oh."

"It's not what you think. Tonight we change, you know, into werewolves," he whispered the last part.

"Oh!"

"Yeah! I'm not trying to avoid you or anything. "I'd never avoid you, Leah," he added while kissing my lips softly. "Never." He trailed kisses down my neck.

We stayed outside the cafeteria kissing for a while until my stomach started to growl in protest.

"Come on! Let's get something to eat. I'm starving too."

**~oOo~**

After spending the whole day with Nick, he and the others were telling me it was better if I went to my dorm and stayed there that night, and that it would be better if I didn't see them the following day either. They were transforming and didn't want to hurt me.

"Leah, please. I'm begging you, stay in your room."

"But I want to see how you phase! You won't hurt me. I'm a shape-shifter and I can heal fast. And why the hell can't I see you tomorrow?"

"Cammie, please, help me here!"

"Leah, we know you can take care of yourself. We aren't worried about that. We are worried about something else… Do remember what I told you about the smell thing? That you are his perfect choice for a soul mate and all that?"

I nodded.

"Well, when the female accepts the male, the male's hormones get a bit uncontrolled when he phases and the following day. Do you understand?"

"Leah, what she's trying to say here is that Nick will be horny as hell! So it's better if you stay away from him," Kara said, making Alex, April and Elliott laugh.

Nick cleared his throat and they stopped laughing.

"Oh! I'll stay in my room. See you guys in two days." I gave Nick a quick peck and ran to my room.

Once there, I locked the door, just in case. I wasn't a virgin, but Nick and I had just started this relationship and I didn't want to ruin this with sex.

That night, I heard a wolf howl, calling his mate. Nick was calling me.

~oOo~

_**Two weeks later…**_

We were at the girls' dorm. We'd ordered some pizzas and were about to watch a movie.

Nick and I had become inseparable. I, the bitchy and harpy girl that cried for years over Sam, the girl that thought love didn't exist for me, was dating the most amazing guy ever and we were going strong.

Nick and I were sitting together, his arm was wrapped around my waist, holding me against his chest.

"Okay, we all know what happens in the movies between couples, so please, try to refrain for the sake of my virgin eyes," April said, looking at Nick and me. We all laughed.

"Whatever you say, April," Nick said. "Before we start the movie I'd like to tell you something. I want Leah to meet the rest of the family."

Everyone's eyes widened; it wasn't in shock, it was more like in horror. Then everybody started to talk at the same time.

"Nick, are you sure?" Alex asked in a worried tone.

"You know _she_ is going to be there, right?" Noah asked.

"_She_'s not going to be nice. You know her," April said.

"Nick, Leah's a human, _she_ would try to insult her for who she is," Kara added.

"Leah's going to met her?" Elliott asked shocked.

Cammie was the only one that wasn't saying a word.

I was completely lost. What the hell were they talking about? And who was _she_? Who were they referring to?

"Enough, guys! Cammie, what do you think about this?"

"Nick, we all know how Vivien will react. Are you sure you want to do this?"

He nodded. "I want Leah to know everything about me, about us. I want her to meet the others as well."

"Okay. In that case, she can come and meet the rest, but under one condition." Cammie turned to look at me. "Leah, you have to promise you'll do everything we tell you to. Our home is going to be extremely different from what you're used to seeing."

"We also have to make sure she's never alone. And this goes for you as well, Leah. You have to promise to be _always_ with one of us. The place may look nice and peaceful, but werewolves and fairies can't be trusted," Alex said.

"Nothing's going to happen. I'll stay with her all the time. You all know that if Leah's with me _nothing_, I repeat, _nothing_ will happen to her. So stop scaring her," Nick said.

Nothing would happen? Was I in some kind of danger or something? I could take care of myself. And who the hell was Vivien?

They all turned to look at me, worry in their eyes, but restrain themselves from saying anything else.

They played the movie to distract themselves, but nobody was paying attention to it. Everyone was thinking about the day I'd meet the rest of the family…


	24. Chapter 23

**A big thanks to my beta BelleDean for helping me in yet another chapter!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 23: Meeting the family...and other secrets (Part 1).**

We were in front of a huge tree, deep into the forest. It was only a week after Nick told me he wanted me to meet the rest of his family.

I was a little nervous about the meeting. Since Nick had proposed to go visit his real home, they'd all been tensed. That had somehow scared me a little bit, and their panicked faces weren't helping at all.

"I'm going to be with you the whole time," he said, looking me straight in the eye. His face was relaxed and set with determination which made me feel a little less nervous. "Can we go now?" He looked at April.

April leaned forward, pressing her hand to the tree, keeping it there for a moment; the place where her hand was started to open, creating a huge hole resembling a door in the middle of the tree.

How in the hell did she do that?

"Magic," Nick whispered in my ear, answering my unasked question.

Nick took my hand, and walked through the portal next to me. On a blink of an eye, a warm light appeared, and then I saw it, their real home. It was like a place taken from a Fairy Tale.

The place was warm, full of light and quiet. Green grass, flowers. Tall trees of all colors: pink, yellow, green, blue. Up in them, there were small, wooden houses, while in the bottom, there were bigger ones. Nick explained to me that the tree's houses belong to fairies while the ones on the ground were werewolves'.

It all looked so peaceful and perfect, that I really doubted anything bad could happen in such a beautiful place. But things weren't as they looked. I could feel Nick's grip on my hand was getting tighter and tighter with every step we made.

There was a tall blond woman in the doorway of a yellow house. When she saw me her eyes widened. She ran back to her house, and a minute later, a man was running outside the house with her. Then she ran to her neighbor's house, a man answered the door, the woman pointed in our direction and the man's eyes widened too. People started coming out of their homes, as we walked people from the houses nearby started to go outside and looked in our direction. I looked up at the tree's houses and fairies were looking in our direction too.

Most of the people's faces were in shock, others looked kinda pissed, and others in lust. Nick's hand tightened even more.

What the hell were they looking at? Was I some kind of meal for them?

We stopped walking when we arrived to a huge house. Two dark haired men were in the front door.

"Prince Nick. Princess Camille," one of the tall, dark haired men said, bowing his head to them.

My eyes widen. "Prince Nick? Princess Camille? You're… from royalty? Why didn't you tell me you were from the royalty?" I asked while we entered the mansion.

"Would that have changed what you feel for us? Or what we feel for you?" Nick said, looking me in the eyes.

"No… but you could have told me. I mean you're a fucking prince!"

"Yes, but I'm still me, Leah."

"We'll go and tell Vivien we're here before she finds out and starts with the shouting," Alex said. He walked away with Kara, Elliott, April and Noah following him.

Suddenly, a beautiful, young girl who seemed to be twelve years old came running toward Nick.

"Hi, Savannah! How are you?" Nick asked the girl while hugging her and kissing her cheeks.

"You're back! Mom was really worried about you."

"And why's that?"

"Well, she said that _they_ are coming back."

Nick suddenly stiffened.

"Hi, Savie! Isn't there a kiss for aunt Cammie?" Cammie said, getting the girl's attention toward her.

The young girl jumped from Nick's arms to Cammie's.

_Aunt Cam? _My eyes widened. Savannah was blonde and had the same blue eyes as Nick. She had blond hair and blue eyes. _W__as this girl Nick's… Could she be…? I think I can't even finish this sentence… Was this little girl Nick's daughter?_

"Aunt Cammie, who's this?"

"Savannah, this is Leah. Leah, this is Savannah, Nick-"

"Nick's daughter." I finished for her.

"What?" The three of them asked at the same time.

"Savannah's Nick's goddaughter. Nick has no children… that I know of…" she said, looking at Nick.

"I have no kids… yet. But if you want to make me a father soon… I won't complain," he told me, smirking. "Come on, let's go find the others."

We walked till the end of a hallway, and then entered a big room. The rest of the hotties were already there, talking to three women and two men I'd never seen before.

There was a shorter woman who was an older replica of April. Next to her, there were two taller females, one blonde with blue eyes, and the other a brunette whose back was to us. Standing right beside her, there was a tall brunette, and a step behind there was a blond man.

"Hello," Cammie said, making everyone turn their attention to us.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to join us today as well. Camille, Nicholas, what a lovely surprise to see you two here," the brunette said, turning around to greet us. She was tall and skinny with short, dark brown hair and black eyes. "Who the hell is this?" She pointed at me.

"Vivien!" Nick shouted.

Vivien? So this was the famous Vivien?

"What have I done? I just wanted to know who she is. She isn't one of us," Vivien answered, looking at me with pure disgust.

"Vivien, why don't you try being nice for once," Camille mumbled.

"Let me introduce you to everyone, Leah. This is Queen Tianna, April's mother," Nick said, gesturing toward the small woman. "Candra and Evan." He pointed at a tall blonde with blue eyes, and next to her to a shorter blonde guy. "This is Linus." The brown-haired guy standing next to them. "And this is Vivien, my sister." Nick gestured to the tall brunette.

"Half sister, Nick. Don't forget that," Vivien replied.

Nick and Cammie rolled their eyes to her. I could feel the tension between the three.

The guy named Evan was eying me with a smirk on his face. He was tall, blond with green eyes, and a strong body, a bit shorter than me; really good looking. But he had something dangerous in his look. "Who's this gorgeous over here? Is she a present for me?" In a blink of an eye he was next to me, touching my cheek while looking at my chest.

At the same speed as he approached me he was pushed away from me.

"If you _ever_ touch her or even look at her, Evan. I'll kill you! Do you understand? Stay away from her if you don't want to have a problem with me," Nick growled. He then punched him in the nose and they started fighting. They were stopped by Alex and Noah who managed to separate them.

"Nicholas, that's not the way to react. After all, she's a simple human. You can't go against your friends for her," Vivien said.

What was wrong with her? I barely knew her, but I already wanted to bite her ass.

"Vivien, watch what you say," Nick warned her.

"Why are you protecting her, she's just a slut," the other guy said.

And that made me lose it. "What the hell? I'm not a slut! Unless you want me to rip your head off and shove it up your ass, be careful what you say about me."

Nick walked to me. "Vivien, get used to the idea of seeing Leah around here, because she's going to stay for the weekend."

"I say we discuss if the human can stay first," Vivien said.

"Vivien, we are all going to agree on her staying, so let's save the meeting for another moment," Cammie said.

"Cammie, I think Vivien is right here. You should talk about it," April's old replica, who was April's mother, said. "I'm sure your Grandfather would like to say something about the matter, remember this is his house."

Next to me, Nick sighed. "Okay, let's ask permission to him then." As the rest of the people walked to a door at the end of the room, Nick turned to me. "Leah, stay here with Savannah, you can trust her."

Vivien snorted at me and entered the room followed by Nick.

"Is she always likes this?" I asked Savannah, nodding to Vivien.

"Every minute of every day. Since they were kids, she loved being against Cammie and Nick. I guess that's because she's the oldest and thinks everything has to be done the way she likes, and normally it's always the opposite of what Nick or Cammie want," she answered.

"I can't believe she's their sister."

"Technically, it's their half sister. Don't forget that," Savannah mocked Vivien's voice. "The three of them only shared the same father, but they had different mothers."

"How do you know all about them? Aren't you too young to know about this?"

"Physically, yes, but mentally I'm way older than you. I was turned a long time ago. Centuries ago to be more precisely."

"Oh."

"Anyways, I think life made her this way. She had a really bad childhood, so I kinda understand why she's-"

"Such a bitch?" I finished for her. She nodded. "What do you mean with 'life made her this way'?"

"It's a long story, but to make it short, it was their father's fault."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it all started with their father, a werewolf called Ion. Normally, you became a wolf by being bitten or cursed. But he was the first werewolf son of two werewolves. Ion was gifted not only with immense strength, but also with a power."

"You mean, the dreaming thing. That he could see what was going to happen in the future."

"Exactly. That gift helped him become an important General in the Commander's Order."

"The Commander's Order? What's that?"

"The Commanders are the werewolves' rulers of every continent. They represent the King in different parts of the world."

I nodded for her to continue.

"So, Ion was a powerful Commander and the King's right hand. The King had no children so he told Ion that if he ever died he would let the thrown to him. But first, he had to marry and have a kid. So he married Lycia, who was also a werewolf, and soon after, they had a daughter, Vivien. Being a werewolf by both sides made Ion wilder and sinful, and the fact that he didn't love his wife lead him to have affairs with werewolves and humans.

Lycia wasn't happy with this and one day she tried to kill him. Ion got so mad at his wife's attempt to kill him that he ended up killing her. That day, he killed the only person that loved and cared for Vivien. Year after year, she watched how her father destroyed and killed whoever got on his way. She grew up hating everyone, especially her father. And things got even worst for her when Sadie, a human woman, got pregnant with Ion's kid; a boy, Nicholas. The woman died after giving birth, leaving Nicholas with his father and Vivien.

After Nick's birth, the King died, and Ion became the new King. Soon after being proclaimed King, he married again, this time with Sabina, the Princess of Fairies. It was an arranged marriage because Oberon, King of Fairies wanted to make sure Ion wasn't going to attack them. But the marriage turned to be a real one when Ion and Sabina fell in love.

During his first years of marriage with Sabina, it is said that the King became a different person. He was nicer and caring to his wife and son who he started to prepare to be the future King.

Some years later, Sabina got pregnant and gave birth to Camille. Ion, who never took interest in Vivien, adored the new baby girl since the first moment he saw her. Vivien, noticing how his father loved his two other children, became more jealous and evil towards everyone. And that's basically why she's like that."

And I thought my life was screwed up.

"I feel sorry for her now."

"Don't. Everyone's always tried being nice to her. Cammie and Nick always tried to show her she wasn't alone, but she refused to let them help her. So don't feel bad."

Suddenly, the door of the room where Nick disappeared flew open and Nick and the guy who called me a slut were fighting again.

"Enough. Nobody's going to fight in my house," an old man shouted. He was short, like April, with white hair and grey eyes. "I won't tolerate this behavior in here." He moved his hand and Nick and the man separated magically.

"Sorry." Nick stood up and walked toward me. "Oberon, this is Leah," Nick introduced me. The old man turned to look in our direction and smiled. His eyes shone with happiness.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Leah. Let me introduce myself properly, I'm Oberon, King of Fairies. I'm April's and Camille's grandpa," he said, shaking my hand. "I'm sorry we made you wait in here that long. I hope you accept staying with us this weekend as our way of apologizing for the rude welcome."

I nodded in agreement.

"So Leah, I don't want to sound rude but what are you? You smell different than humans and werewolves," Oberon asked.

"I'm a shape-shifter."

"You certainly know how to pick them, Nicholas," Oberon said with a wide smile.


	25. Chapter 24

**A big thanks to my beta BelleDean!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 24: Meeting the family… and other secrets. Part 2.**

I woke up to the sound of someone knocking at my door. I pushed the covers over my face, trying to muffle the sound, but it was useless. The knocking only became more insistent and louder.

I growled as I uncovered, the warm sunlight coming through the window blinded me for a moment. I got out of the bed, still adjusting my eyes to the strong light.

"Fuck!" I yelled as I crashed against the night stand. "Who the hell put that over there?" The knocking stopped, and a soft laugh could be heard behind the door.

I walked to the door and opened it, finding Nick.

"Good morning," he said. "I like to see you're a morning person." He brushed my messy hair with his hands. He gave me a light peck. "Get ready! They're waiting for us for breakfast."

I grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of shorts as he slightly pushed me to the small bathroom in the room. I had a look at the mirror. To say I looked like shit wasn't an exaggeration. My hair was messy, I had rings under my eyes, and I still had a slight pimple on my right cheek.

I put my clothes on, remembering the encounter I had with Evan the day before. No wonder Nick had been stuck to me like a limpet to a rock after that.

Evan had continued harassing me, trying to get a rise out of me, until I couldn't take it any longer. I'd phased and ended up biting his ass, literally. But as he'd tried to get rid of me, he'd slapped me hard, throwing me against the wall.

Being hit by a werewolf had been as painful as I remembered, but Evan hadn't really done much damage so I'd refused Noah's help. Evan, on the other hand, hadn't been that lucky, my teeth had sunk deep into his flesh, and Noah had to touch his ass to heal the wound and stop the pain.

Instead of causing trouble, our fight had shown the rest of the werewolves that I wasn't a simply defenseless human. Candra had adopted a silenced attitude towards me while Linus had kept his comments to himself, only growling lowly at me occasionally.

The only one who had continued with the same dark, bitching mood was Vivien. She'd continued taking every opportunity to show me just how not welcome I was whenever she could.

Getting out of the bathroom, I found Nick waiting for me sitting on my bed. "Ready to go?"

I nodded and we left the room, walking through the corridor to a huge dinning room. King Oberon was the only one sitting at the large table.

"Good morning, Leah. Nick," King Oberon greeted us, smiling and pointing to the two chairs by his side. "Hope you don't mind it's just us, the others had an early breakfast this morning."

I walked to him and took the sit next on his right while Nick sat on his left.

As I took some eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes French toast and cereal, we started talking. King Oberon – Grandpa, as he liked to be called– was really interested in my shape shifting skills and my life. In exchange, he educated me on everything about fairies and where he came from. Apparently, he had come to America not long ago; he moved from Europe to help Nick and Cammie create a safe place for werewolves to live in.

When we finished eating, Nick told me to go back to my room. He had to talk with Grandpa about some important things, and that he would meet me once the meeting was over.

**~oOo~**

I knew I shouldn't be walking on my own in a place full of werewolves that could kill me just for the fun of it. But I couldn't stand staying in the room doing nothing either. I would have died of boredom if I stayed one minute longer, so I went outside the house for a walk.

The streets were fairly empty. That, combined with the fact that I'd been able to defend myself against Evan the day before, made me daring, gave me the confidence to get out of the house. Still, I wasn't stupid. Everyone had warned me about werewolves and fairies, so I kept all my senses alert.

I turned right at the end of a street and saw a group of four men whose backs were facing me. They were a good sixty feet away from me. Thankfully, the guys were in deep conversation and didn't notice me.

I was going to turn around, walk back to the house, trying my best not to direct their attention toward me. Unfortunately, I had no such luck. One of them turned around abruptly and saw me just as I was trying to walk away.

My legs weren't responding and a shiver ran down my spine as our eyes locked. His look was intense, dangerous. I snapped out of the fear as I saw him smirk and nudged the rest of the men.

I didn't think twice, I turned around and started to run. I could hear their steps right behind me.

I wasn't sure if I was going in the right direction or not, but I kept running until I reached a small park.

This was it. When the men grabbed me, they'd kill me. I'd give a fight but they were four and I was just one. I was thinking about possible ways of staying alive when I saw two familiar figures – Alex and Cammie– sitting on a bench under a tree.

They'd noticed I was there and waved for me to join them, but when they saw the guys behind me they both run in my direction, and in a blink of an eye they were both growling at the gang following me.

"Get the hell out of here, Corwin, or I'll gladly kick your and your friends' asses," Alex growled.

"We just wanted to meet her," the guy, Corwin, said, in a fake sweetly tone.

"Let's just see what Nick thinks about you trying to 'meet' his girlfriend," Alex replied. "Now go before my warning turns into reality."

"Leah, what are you doing here? What have we told you about being alone!" Cammie yelled when the men left.

"I know, I was-"

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Oh God! Nick will be hysterical when he finds out," she cut me off.

"He already is. He's like crazy asking for Leah," Alex answered.

I looked at him and he pointed to his head; he was having a mental conversation with Nick.

"Okay. He's on his way here. I'll go make sure these guys aren't planning on coming back," Alex said, running in the direction the guys took off in. Cammie's eyes followed him until he disappeared.

"So you and Alex, huh?"

"Alex and I what?"

"You know. You like each other," I said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why do you answer with another question? Is it a touchy topic to talk about him? You like him, don't you?"

"Well, I've known him my whole life. He's a good friend of mine. So yes, I like him and respect him a lot."

"I didn't mean in a friendly way. It's so obvious there's something between you two."

"Something like what?"

"Love? Come on, Cammie! You are always telling me that I should give love a try and all that shit, and what about you? Do you do what you suggest? Have you ever been in love?"

"I'm afraid my case's a little bit more complicated, Leah." She sighed sadly. "I was truly in love once, a long time ago. We loved each other so much, but I guess it was never going to work. There were too many obstacles between us. After that, I made a promise to myself that until I found him again and–"

"And kill him! That's the only thing that would happen to that _man_ when I find him," Nick said, interrupting his sister. He walked to me and hugged me tightly. He looked at me scanning me up and down looking for a bruise or something.

"Nick, you think that by killing someone you solve everything," Cammie said, making him turned his head to her.

"Well, in this case if I kill him I'll be doing the whole world a favor."

Cammie sighed frustrated and walked away. Nick frowned.

"She doesn't understand the only way she'll finally find happiness is if we kill that son of a-"

"Let Cammie do what's better for her."

"You don't understand, Leah. You didn't see her after Caius and she broke up. It destroyed her. She was so beautiful on the outside and so hurt in the inside."

_What did he just said? Caius?_

"Caius?"

"He's one of the vampire Kings. A Volturi."

Like I didn't know about him! He was the royal leech that wanted to kill us wolves. But I pretended I didn't know about them. Nick didn't know that I knew vampires, was actually on a first name basis with some, and therefore was familiar with some of their laws.

"Wait! You're saying Cammie dated a vampire?"

"Yes, she did."

"But aren't they your mortal enemies?"

"Yes, they are… now."

"Now?"

"Well, there was a time when vampires and werewolves lived in peace with each other. A time when we didn't fight.

My father was King of the werewolves during that time, and he was married to Camille's mother. In that peaceful period, my father heard there were three brothers who had become the new royalty of the vampires; they had just finished fighting a war between some Romanian leeches. They were the new rulers and Father wanted to make sure that they weren't planning on attacking us, so he decided we should meet them to show them we didn't want to fight.

The Volturi brothers had only been vampires for a short time by that time, and they didn't have mates yet. So when we met them, they immediately liked Camille. The three of them tried their best to make her fall for one of them. Cammie, liked Marcus and Caius in the beginning because of their calmer personalities. Aro, well, that was different. She was never comfortable around him.

Although Cammie had never admitted it, she liked Caius the most, but didn't want to hurt Marcus' feelings so she pretended she wanted only a friendship with them.

Suddenly, things changed when Aro's sister, Didyme, was changed and Marcus took an interest in her. Caius seeing as his brother had eyes for another woman, and noticing that Camille and Aro weren't close, took the opportunity and asked Camille to be his mate. They were so in love that soon after they got engaged.

When Aro found about their relationship, he was really mad because he wanted her for himself. I always thought he had an obsession with her because of her uniqueness. He was just starting 'his collection', a group of vampires with extraordinary powers, and she was such a unique creature, that he would have done anything to get her.

One night, Aro tried to rape Camille. He wanted her to have a child with him and maybe that way she would have to choose him. He almost succeeded if it wasn't for Didyme who heard her screams and helped Cammie. Didyme confronted Aro and told him she was going to tell Caius and Marcus what he wanted to do to Camille and that they'll banish him from Volterra.

Aro pleaded his sister to keep quiet, telling her that he wouldn't do it again, but she didn't believe him. Didyme was on her way to tell Marcus when Aro killed her. He couldn't let her go and tell them what he had tried to do.

So he killed his own sister, and when his two brothers, my father and I arrived to the crime scene, he said it was Camille who had killed Didyme. He even invented that Camille had a lover and that Didyme found out about it and wanted to tell, and that was why my sister murdered her."

"That sick leech!" I interrupted him.

"That's not all! When Marcus and Caius heard that, they both tried to kill Camille. Marcus for revenge and Caius for infidelity. My father got in the way as Caius launched towards Camille, protecting her and fighting Caius, while I made sure Aro and Marcus didn't get into the fight.

Caius was almost killed but Camille pleaded with our father not to end his life. He did as she asked and forgave Caius' life, but the leech, being the coward he is, killed our father when he turned his back to him."

"What happened next? How did you manage to escape?"

"As I saw our father being killed, I grabbed Camille and we escaped Volterra. At first, we hid in Paris, and then we moved to Russia. Since then we've been moving from one place to the other.

Caius' been hunting our kind since then. That's why vampires and werewolves became enemies; all because of Aro." Nick growled the last part.

I was silent for a moment, trying to comprehend what Nick had just told me. "Why did Caius believe Aro's version instead of Cammie's? Weren't they in love?"

"I don't know. All I know is that when he dies, all our problems will be solved. Our people would stop dying and Cam would be able to be free to fall in love again."

Nick took my hand, and we walked back to the house.

"You know, I'm happy I've told you about what happened to Cam and my father. Not many people know that secret," Nick said before entering the house. "Vampires have destroyed our family. That's why we despise them so much, and I'm lucky you despise them as well." He looked at me and smiled. "I'm really proud of calling you my girlfriend. Don't forget that. People might think you're not suitable for me, but they are wrong. There's nothing that will separate me from you. Nothing." He leaned down and kissed me.

I hoped he was right and nothing would ever separate us. Especially, if he ever found out about my friendship with the Cullens. I was in love with him and I didn't know what I'd do if he hated me for that.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 2****5: You can look but can't touch, he's only mine.**

It had been a month since the first weekend visit to Nick's home and meeting the rest of the family. First but not last, because Grandpa and Queen Tianna wanted us to visit them often, and we did. The only negative thing about going had a name: Vivien. She was a completely female dog all the time.

Today was December 23rd, which meant that today, Nick and I were going to La Push to spend Christmas with my family. We were staying there for the week.

The four hour car ride to La Push was awkward. I was super nervous, because Nick was going to meet my family. He only knew Seth and now he was going to meet my mom… and Charlie… and Billy… and the elders… and the La Push pack… and Sam.

"Relax, princess, they'll adore me," Nick said and gave me a cocky smirk.

"Someone's too confident about himself?"

"Leah, stop worrying about that, there's no one that can resist me." He continued with his 'I'm the best' tone.

_Cocky bastard!_

I sighed and he took my hand and intertwined it with his.

"What if they don't li-"

"Relax, everything will be okay. The only one I'm worried of not accepting me is you. And you adore me, so I'm not worried at all." He finished laughing.

I punched him playfully and he kissed my hand.

After 4 fucking hours we arrived to La Push. Once we parked the car in front of my house, Seth came running to us and hugged me.

"Okay, Seth, enough," I told him while shoving him off of me.

"Hey, sis. Nick, my man, you came." They did a hand shake and then Seth's face turned into a serious one. "So you're dating my sister, huh? Let's make this clear. If you hurt her, I'll kill you. Got it?"

Nick laughed and replied to Seth, "Seth, first of all, I'll never hurt her." And then he added with a dark smirk, "And secondly, you could never kill me."

"Leah, baby, you're here!" My mother shouted from the doorway.

"Mom." She hugged me and kissed me.

When the 'mother affection' was over (thank God!), she turned to Nick. When she saw him her eyes widen.

"Oh dear God! Leah, this is Nick, the guy you told me about? He's really hot, honey. You certainly know how to pick them," she whispered in my ear.

I looked at him and he was holding his laughter.

_Cocky bastard with super hearing._

"Mom, this is Nick. Nick, this is my mother Sue Clearwater."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Clearwater."

"Please call me Sue. Mrs. Clearwater makes me look old, and I'm not too older than Leah," Mom said winking at him.

_Oh dear Lordy… was she flirting with my boyfriend?_

"Do I have to remind you you're a married woman?" I whispered to my mom.

That made her stop flirting with my boyfriend. "Why don't you come inside and I prepare something for you to eat?"

We both entered the house. When we entered I was tackled by Embry and Quil that jumped on me.

"Leah, you came!"

"We missed you, Leah!"

"Can you fucking get off of me?"

They both let me go and helped me get up.

"Well, it's nice to see you, dear Beta."

"Black. Do you remember Nick, right?"

"Yeah. Nice to see you man." Jake and Nick shared a handshake.

"So we are staying in mom's old room, right?"

"Actually Leah, you go to your old bedroom and Nick will share with Seth. Charlie and I are staying in my old room these days," Mom said from the kitchen.

_So t__here won't be any time alone with my boyfriend in my house. Thanks mother!_

After unpacking, I decided to go and spend some time with my boyfriend. I went to Seth's room and it was empty. Maybe he was downstairs playing some video game with the guys. I walked downstairs to our living room and found Seth, Jake, Embry and Quil imprinting on the TV.

"Sorry to interrupt you from your imprinting moment boys, but where's Nick?"

"He said he was going for a walk, sis."

"A walk? And you let him go alone?" I shouted to them. "Can't you see something can happen to him?"

"Chill out Leah, maybe he's just having a walk on the beach," Jake said.

"Relax my ass! What if Sam finds him? You know that since we couldn't rip off any leech the other day, Sam's been looking for anything to kill, right? I wouldn't like my boyfriend to be in one piece thank you very much."

"Leah, if Sam had killed him, he would have come here and rubbed that he's a better alpha in Jake's face," Embry said turning back to the TV.

I turned around, grabbed a jacket, I didn't need it but outside it was freezing cold for normal humans, so I put it on to prevent people starting to call me a freak, and went outside to find Nick.

I sniffed in the air until I found his scent. I followed it. He was sitting in the edge of the cliff, where I almost died.

"Come here, Leah," he whispered and patted the place next to him.

This was the cliff where he saved me.

"Nick, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead, princess."

"In this place you I almost die. You were here before and you… what were you doing here?"

"I was looking for someone and then I saw you and nothing else mattered to me, only you."

"Who were you looking for?"

"Someone, I don't have time to tell you. I only have time for one thing, to kiss you."

He leaned closer to my lips but I turned my head to the side and he kissed my cheek.

He groaned. "Leah, I want to kiss you."

"And I want some answers."

"Let's make a deal. You kiss me and I tell you all you want to know," he whispered on my lips. He kissed me. When we pulled away he answered. "Alvis, Savannah's father was killed by _them_ some days before I found you. They were in America. When I found out I wanted revenge, so I followed their scent all over the country, and it brought me here. I didn't find them but I found you."

He looked me with love in his eyes.

"But that's not important now. I want to tell you something important _here_, where everything started, where I fell in love with you. Leah, here I saved-"

"You saved me." I interrupted him.

"I saved _us_, because if you had died here, I'd have died too. You brought me back to life, you made me believe in love. When I first saw you I just couldn't stop looking at you. When you feel off, it was like you pulled me with you. You and I, we're a whole. Leah, you're my soul mate, my true love."

I shook my head.

"Why?" I questioned.

"You're asking me why this happened? I don't know, but it's not that hard to like you, Leah." Nick added smiling. He moved closer to me, placed his hand under my chin and brought up my head so our eyes were level with one another. "I do. I can't help how I feel," he said, his face inching closer towards mine. And the next thing happening was that he was kissing me. His soft lips were pressing gently against mine. I felt a wave of euphoria wash over me as the kiss deepened. I placed my hands on his shoulders, kissing him back. Nick put his arms around the small of my back and continued to kiss me.

When we separated, we laid on the ground looking up at the grey sky in silence. We must have been there for hours because it was suddenly getting very dark, but we still stayed there.

"Can I listen to your heartbeat?" Nick asked out of the blue. I chuckled and nodded. He scooted closer to me and put his ear against my chest.

After a few quiet minutes he looked up at me and smiled, then returned to listening to it. "This is my new favorite song." He whispered.

I smiled.

"I love you, Leah," he whispered softly. Slowly, he leaned down until his lips were an inch apart from mine. His warm breath filled my lungs, putting me into a slight daze. I felt my heart pounding loudly in my ears as I close the short gap between us and touch my lips with his. This kiss was much different than our first one. This kiss was soft and full of love. It was his way of showing me that he really loved me and would do anything to keep me in his arms forever.

I pulled away and looked into his eyes. I was ready for this. I felt the same way. "I love you too, Nick."

* * *

I woke up with Nick's arms around me. Somehow in between kisses I fell asleep. Not because he bored me or anything. I was sure that any woman in my situation would have gone into a comma if Nick just looked at her. This guy could make you die and bring you back to life with one kiss, one touch, a look.

I somehow managed to get out of his embrace and walked closer to the end of the cliff. I breathed in the ocean mist that fogged over the water and I bored my still sleepy eyes upon the trashing of the waves against the rocks; the sound of the water always calmed me down. The sky drenched in grey, as it always did in La Push. As the shrill noise of birds erupted into the air, Nick sighed behind me, causing me to turn to his way and cock my head.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him softly, he got up stretching himself and walked toward me.

"No. It's just that I can't imagine my life without you now," he said hugging me and kissing my cheek.

"I can't imagine my life without you either."

He sighed again. "It's just that… I was foolish to ever have doubts."

"Doubts?"

"Mmm... Well, when I saw Jake after I saved you, I thought he was your mate, and then when you went on that date with Justin-"

"Julian," I corrected him.

"Whatever. Well, I realized you were single and then when he kissed you I just thought you liked him, but you didn't, and now I'm thinking that we wasted a lot of time. Time that I could have spent doing this." He kissed my lips softly.

"Why didn't you stop?" He shifted his gaze onto me, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Why didn't you ever leave me be? Why did you keep haunting me?"

"Because I couldn't let you go, you always managed to draw me to you."

He gave me a slight peck on my lips and draped his arm over your shoulder.

"So you were jealous?" I teased him.

"Pft! No," he snorted. "I was _crazy_. Whenever I saw you near a boy I just wanted to kill them for just breathing the same air as you did." He looked me deep in the eyes. "Leah, I lov-"

But he was interrupted when my stomach managed to growl very loudly at the exact wrong time. I looked down at it then back to him.

He laughed about it and pulled me up to my feet, hugging me against him. I laughed as he carried me to the house.

* * *

"Leah, come on! We're going to be late if you don't come downstairs now!" Seth shouted.

"Wait just a second!"

I finished my hair and ran downstairs where Seth and Nick were waiting for me.

"Wow. You look amazing," Nick commented, kissed me softly before Seth started making gagging noises.

"Could you do that when I'm not here?"

Nick laughed and told Seth, "Sorry Seth, it's not my fault your sister is this beautiful." He looked at me with adoration playing in his eyes. "You'll understand when you have a girl that drives you this crazy."

"Oh please, can you keep the eye thing, kissing and any other thing you do, for yourselves."

Nick and I laughed.

We walked to the party holding hands and kissing each other from time to time, while Seth murmured that tonight he was going to have nightmares.

"Thank God we've arrived," Seth said and ran inside to the party.

As we were going to enter, Nick cell phone's ringtone started to play.

"It's Alex."

He looked at me waiting for my approval. "Fine, answer it, I'll be inside."

He kissed my cheek and answered the call while I entered the place.

The room was huge with large tables full of food. There were a lot of people, all La Push's people. There were people dancing, and others were talking while they ate some of the delicious dishes that were over the table.

I looked around finding for familiar faces. There were the packs' boys with their imprintees and the elders. Everyone was paired with someone, talking. The imprinted guys with their imprintees: Kim and Jared. Claire was playing with Quil. Paul and Rachel. Jake was talking with Embry and Seth. My mom was with Charlie. Billy and Old Quil. And, of course, Emily and Sam.

I walked around for a while until a really _fat_ Emily -she was only six months but she was _huge_ already, it looked like the baby was going to plop out in any moment- came towards me with Kim and Rachel and other two girls I'd never seen in my life before. They approached me and I knew they were going to start saying things like: "You look great, did you imprint or something?" or "Oh Leah, you came alone?" or "Good for you, you're still single and you can flirt with any guy you want."

"Oh Leah, you look so pretty tonight! Did you come alone?" Kim asked.

_What did I t__ell you? Why couldn't I wait for my boyfriend? Why?_

"I love your dress! Didn't you find any hot guy in college?" Rachel asked.

"Actually, my boy-"

"Oh, I'm so happy to see you! Let me call Sam to come and say hi to you. You know, we've been thinking on names for the baby lately, so if you have any suggestions let me know. I want the baby to be called by the name her or his godmother chooses."

_O__h dear Lord! She still wanted me to be the child's godmother?_

Why couldn't she get the idea that I didn't want anything to do with her? I fucking didn't want to be her child's godmother or her bridesmaid! Didn't she understand that after what happened at my mom's wedding, rubbing in my face that she was going to have a baby that I could never have, I didn't want to be part of her life anymore? It seemed to me like she enjoyed humiliating me and showing me that she was having the life I once dreamt of. But you know what? I wasn't going to follow her game anymore.

Three months ago, my reaction would have caused World War III, but now, all I could think about was: "I would love to help you, Emily, but I'm very busy with classes and stuff. Why don't you ask Rachel or Kim to be the baby's godmother?" I told her with a sweet voice.

They all looked shocked that I didn't shout to Emily. Every time Emily and I talked, I ended up shouting to her. Their eyes were wide opened. Emily was going to say something but she shut her mouth immediately.

"So how's life in Seattle? Did you meet anyone?" Rachel changed the subject to break the awkward moment.

"Ha. I would like to see the freak that could choose her to date, babe. Who could even hung out with her," Paul said, making everyone laugh. And by everyone I mean the imprintees, Jared, Colin and Brady that were next to him. Sam was nowhere in sight.

"Well, Paul, let me tell you I do have friends. Jake, Embry, Quil and Seth can tell you about them."

"Really? Well then they might be ugly, blind and deaf so they don't need to see you or listen to you," he commented making his pack mates to laugh more. The girls just look to another place, pretending they didn't listen what he said.

As on cue the door was opened and there he was… my sexy and hot boyfriend. He took off his coat and looked around until he saw me. Behind me I heard Emily, Rachel, Kim and the two other girls gasped dreamily at him. People turned to look at him as he walked our way.

I knew exactly how they felt. Who could resist looking at someone like him? He was beautiful, and tonight he was even sexier than he always was. He was wearing a pair of light blue jeans and a white shirt that complimented his tanned skin. He was a god, the perfect man. And he was mine.

"I'm sorry for making you wait for me, princess," he said kissing my hand, making the girls behind me gasp again. Then he kissed me softly on my lips.

When we broke apart, I smirked and turned my eyes to all the pack boys and imprintees. Their faces were priceless. While the girls were with their mouths opened, the boys' eyes were wide open.

"Guys, this is Nick. My boyfriend," I said looking at Emily who opened her eyes wider.

I turned my eyes back to my man who had his eyes settled on me. He smiled and wrapped his arms around my waist and led me to where the food was.

I knew I shouldn't say this but I love dating this extremely hot guy and rub it in all their faces, especially in Emily's who always found a way to rub Sam on my face.

We walked around the room and I introduced Nick to Charlie who gave him 'the talk', that if he ever hurt me or try something on me, he would kill him. Later, I introduced Nick to Billy and Old Quil who were a bit worried that Nick could be a threat, but once Nick told them that the only way he could be a problem was when he phased and that only happened with the full moon, so they both relaxed and welcomed Nick to stay in La Push every time he wanted except for full moon days.

After talking with the two elders we went to get some food. Emily, Rachel and Kim where at the food table looking at Nick intensely, desire and lust in their eyes.

Did I mention that I loved having a hot boyfriend to rub it in their faces? I really did. And Nick seemed to don't mind it, because he was aware of his three new admirers, he smiled at them making them almost faint. They excused themselves and went to the bathroom.

I looked at Nick and laughed. "There you have three more girls to your fan club. They think you're hot."

"They are just trying to be nice because I'm new, they don't think I'm hot."

"What? So you're not hot?"

"Nope. I'm fine!"

"Oh please, don't be modest," I exclaimed sarcastically, rolling my eyes. He laughed which made me laugh too. "I love your laugh," I said smiling as he was leaning closer to me.

"And I love everything about you." He kissed me.

"So Nick, where are you from?" Emily interrupted us.

"Do you have any brothers?" Rachel asked.

"How old are you?" Kim asked.

I turned around ready to tell them to get the hell away and leave us alone, but I almost chocked with my drink when I saw them.

What the hell had they done on their faces?

"What the hell happened to your faces?" I asked.

Nick was coughing, hiding his laughter. He couldn't hold it any longer so he excused himself.

The girls looked disappointed that Nick left without complimenting their new looks.

"What happened in your faces?" I asked again.

"Nothing, we just refreshed our make-up."

The girls thought their mascara application was flawless, but Emily's eyelashes really looked like scary spider legs. Rachel had too much eye shadow. And Kim, well, Kim's lips now looked three times its normal size.

"Go and wash your faces, girls. Oh and one last thing about Nick, you can look at him all you want, but you can't touch him, get it?" They nodded and disappeared.

I walked around the room looking for Nick but I couldn't find him anywhere.

"Hi, Lee-Lee," someone said from behind me.

I turned around and there the person I tried to avoid the whole night, Sam.

"Lee-Lee, are you okay?"

"Stop it!"

"Stop what?"

"Don't call me Lee-Lee ever again, do you understand?"

"Why not? You loved it when I called you that."

"You said it. I _loved_ it, not any more. "

"Really? I bet you came with that guy only to make me jealous."

What?

"Yeah, I heard you brought your _boyfriend_. Was it to make me jealous?"

"Really, Sam? Really? You think I brought him to make you jealous?"

"Leah, we both know you still love me. You can't love that guy. Did you pay for him to come with you?"

Oh no, he didn't just say that!

"Fuck you, Sam."

"Leah, don't-" He was cut.

"She said to leave her alone," Nick growled.

"This is a private conversation so mind your own business!"

"Leah is _my_ girlfriend and I won't let you treat her like this."

Sam walked a step closer to Nick, like trying to intimidate him, showing him he was the Alpha. What Sam didn't know was that Nick was a werewolf, and the Alpha, the fucking King to be of his species.

Sam realized that Nick wasn't giving easily by just a look and punched him. A moment later, Sam was in the ground with Nick on top of him punching him.

People were screaming, well, it was mostly Emily who was screaming. And others were cheering like Embry, Quil and Jake, who took the opportunity to make a bet.

Paul and Jared were trembling, Seth noticed and with the help of Brady and Colin he took them outside where they could phase.

"Nick, stop!" I shouted. I behaved the whole night, being nice to people, so Nick could be accepted in the res, and now he was punching the most valuable and respected guy in La Push. "Nick, stop, please!"

He didn't. He continued hitting Sam like a mad person. Right now it wasn't Nick, it was Nick's wolf. I looked at Jake and begged him with my eyes to stop them. He understood my message and with the help of Embry and Quil he separated the two boys.

Nick was breathing hard, his hair was messier and his shirt's first buttons were undone. In one word he looked hot, but I was so angry with him that I couldn't enjoy his sexy look.

Nick looked my way and his eyes widen in realization when he saw that I was pissed at him. He looked guilty.

I couldn't look at him right now so I ran outside. I needed to be alone to think what to do. I was sure Sam was going to convince the elders to never let me with Nick. Not that I cared what a bunch of old guys decided, but I wanted Nick to be accepted in my family.

I ran throw the woods, and once I realized were I was I stopped running. I was in the Cullens' territory. It wasn't something bad, they knew I was a friend now, but I didn't want to talk to anyone now. I wanted to be alone.

Something moved from behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know who he was. Nick.

"Leah, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted that way." He walked closer to me. I didn't look at him. "Leah, please look at me," he asked gently.

I looked up to him with scared eyes. I wasn't scared of him, but I was just a little freaked by what I just saw.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Please don't hate me for that. I just got carried away. He made me so angry," he pleaded.

"You hit him, Nick. Yes, he's a jerk, but you got out of control."

"He started it. He should have shut up and never said that to you. You're my girlfriend and I won't let _anyone_ talk to you that way," he said angrily.

I confess that I loved it when he said I was his girlfriend and he protect me from anyone, but I wanted him to work harder if he wanted me to accept his apology.

He apologized again and again, but suddenly his mood changed again, and he suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him.

"What's wrong with you?" I didn't want to shout to him but he scared me.

"Vampires. This place smells like them," he said while holding me harder. "And the smell is getting closer."

"Nick, take your hands off of me! You're hurting me."

After I said that, five vampires appeared: Edward, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper.

Nick tensed and hid me behind him. He growled and even showed his teeth like dogs did when they felt threaten.

"Is everything okay, Leah?" Edward asked.

"Is this bastard hurting you?" Rosalie barked.

"Leah, you okay?" Alice asked worriedly.

"It's better if you leave her alone buddy," Emmett said clenching his fists.

Nick was shock that these vampires were talking to me. He turned to look at me. "You know them?"

"Of course she knows us, we're friends," Jasper told him.

"You… you're friends with leeches?" His voice getting louder at each word he spoke.

"Nick, I can explain-"

"Explain? What are you going to explain? That you're on their side. You lied to me! After all I told you about what they'd done to us. My sister, Alvis… You're friends with _them_!"

"Nick-"

"Stay away from me. Don't you dare talk to me ever again and forget about seeing any of the others. From now on you're our enemy too."

"Nick," I whispered. I closed my eyes to stop the tears to fall. When I opened them, he wasn't there anymore.

"Nick, come back, please," I whispered.


	27. Chapter 26

**I posted a one-shot Male Nature's Calling that's about Nick horniness from chapter 25. So go check it if you want to see what happened between Nick and Leah.**

**

* * *

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**Chapter 2****6: The dark ocean of breakdown.**

_*Ring, ring, ring*_

"_Hello?"_

"_Leah, it's me. Can you meet me now we need to talk."_

"_Sure, Sam."_

"_See you in First Beach."_

"_Okay. I love you."_

"_I… I'll see you there." He hung up._

_I took my jacket, outside it was freezing, and I walked to the beach thinking about our previous conversation. His voice on the phone was different__, he seemed nervous. Why? Did he had another fight with his father?_

_He was already there when I reached the beach. He was sitting on the rocks watching as the waves constantly rolled onto the shore._ _I sat next to him, but he kept his gaze on the water._

"_Hey, what's up?"_

_He didn't answer._

"_Is everything okay?"_

_He sighed__ avoiding my eyes all the time. "I don't know how to tell you this…"_

_There was something wrong, something really bad, because he never avoided my eyes._

"_Just say it."_

"_Leah… Lee-Lee, I didn't want it to be this way… but it happened… and…"_

"_You're scaring me. What happened?"_

"_Leah, I didn't want it to happen… but… we can't be together anymore. I'm sorry Lee-Lee."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_I don't love you anymore… I'm sorry…" he said looking me in the eyes._

_No__, no, no! This couldn't be happening!_

_I turned my head to the waves that rolled onto the shore, getting closer and closer to the shore but never making it there completely, dragging back to where they came from. Dragging backwards and backwards until they were back deep in the ocean where a huge wave was coming in our direction._

"_I'm sorry Lee-Lee. This is hurting me as much as it's hurting you or more," he kept on talking, while the huge dark wave came closer to us._

_I tried to stand up, but my body didn't respond._

"_Leah, please look at me. I'm sorry," Sam whispered._

_I looked at him__. His dark eyes full of sadness and shame._

_This couldn't be real…_

_I needed to escape from Sam that was destroying me and from the wave that was going to finish burying me in the infinite ocean of heartbreak._

_The wave was now towering us, ready to eat us…_

"_I'm sorry Lee-Lee." I turned my face to see Sam, but he wasn't there anymore in his place there was Nick. "We could have been so happy." A tear rolled down his cheek. I tried to wip it away but the water crashed against my body and soon after I was surrounded by darkness._

I woke up breathing heavily.

"Shh, just breathe okay. It's over now. It was just a nightmare," Alice's voice whispered in my ear.

"Where is he?"

"Leah, he's not here."

"Nick? Where is he?" I asked making my voice raise higher.

"Leah, please try to calm down," Rosalie whispered from the other side of the bed.

"No! Where is he? I want to see him! I have to explain everything!"

"Leah, please, calm down, honey," Esme said.

My breath hiked, and I wasn't getting enough air.

"Okay, with these doses, she'll be able to sleep," Carlisle's voice trailed off, because I passed out.

* * *

"…this is boring. What can we do, Em?"

"Have sex?"

"What?"

"No, no man! Not you and me! With our wives. Sex with our-"

I cut him off when I growled.

"Leah, you awake?" Jasper's asked softly.

I was going to respond but Emmett interrupted me, "Hey everyone, she-wolf's up!"

A minute later, Alice and Rosalie where sitting on each side of my bed.

"Did you sleep well?" Rose asked me with concerned in her voice.

I nodded. I looked down, and noticed that I was wearing pajamas and my hair was wet.

"Rose and I showered you and dressed you. You were a mess after-" Alice said but didn't finish the line when Rosalie glared at her.

"So he saw you? That wasn't a nightmare," I said.

"Leah, we are sorry…"

"Everything will be fine, you'll see. And if he doesn't come back, then he's an idiot." Alice tried to cheer me.

The door was opened again, and Edward walked into the room followed by the rest of the Cullens, each of them carrying a mountain of wrapped boxes.

"Merry Christmas, family!" Carlisle sang cheerfully. "It's present time!"

"Your Mom brought these for you, honey," Esme whispered in my ear while she gave me some badly wrapped boxes I was sure they were from my family and some really well wrapped ones that were from the Cullens.

Everyone immediately started to open their presents. Some of them had new books, new toys for Nessie, Alice got a new credit card, sexy lingerie for Rose, Edward classical music CDs, Emmett video games, a cooking book for Esme and Carlisle got a new microscope.

I opened my presents too. I got some clothes, a credit card, some CDs, and other stuff, but a small box and a letter caught my eye. I opened it with shaking hands. In a little black box there was the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen, something was written on it: 'Love you forever and more.' I took the letter, opened it and read it. Tears rolled down my cheeks when I finished reading it.

"Leah, are you okay?"

"I just need to be alone a moment, please," I whispered.

When everyone left the room, I walked to the window and watched as the snowflakes fell to the ground, covering the green ground.

I took the letter and re-read it again.

_**I've been a fool for not telling you that 'I love you' **__**since the first day I saw you.**_

_**I've been an idiot for not doing it the second time we locked eyes.**_

_**And now, I am a fool and an idiot because I can't stop thinking **__**about anything else to say that is not 'I love you'.**_

_**If you have any doubts, let me say it again, I love you**__**, Leah, and with this ring I give you my everything, my love.**_

_**Merry Christmas**__**, my love.**_

_**Love you,**_

_**Nick.**_

I folded the letter while tears rolled down my face. After everything that I'd been through -Samily (Sam and Emily), my dad, becoming a freak- you'd think that the depression wouldn't hit so hard. But I was wrong. It did, and it drove my body crazy as I lay there, withering in my agony and heartbreak. This time it was even worse than when Sam left me. There was no highly force forcing him to leave, it was his decision, his choice.

'I love you Leah', his words kept playing in my mind. I never thought that I would be feeling this way again. Damn! I loved him too!

So what the hell was I doing here, crying? I fucking didn't care what he thought! He was going to listen to me! Nick was worth the fight! And I wasn't going to let him dump me for some stupid reason!

They said life's a bitch and then you die, right? Well, I wasn't ready to die. There were so many things I had to live for. And I had a whole future loving Nick, so fuck life! If all it wanted to do was fuck with me, well guess what? I was going to fuck back.

From now on I wouldn't waste any tears, they were pointless. That wouldn't bring him back. I was going to stand in front of him and he was going to fucking listen to the whole story, and if he didn't want to listen to me, too bad, he would have to.

* * *

Winter break was over in a blink of an eye. My mood improved day by day. This didn't mean I wasn't sad and pissed, but I learned to hide it whenever I think I was going to have a break down. And the idea of seeing Nick again, helped me a lot and made me stronger.

Since Christmas day, I'd been preparing myself for today, the day I'd be facing the hotties and Nick. My mission was to explain everything about the Cullens to them, and to show them, these vampires where not bad.

I took a deep breath and walked towards the college building where everyone was reuniting with their friends. I looked around trying to spot the hotties, but they weren't in sight.

"Leah!" I heard a female voice calling my name.

Maybe it was Cammie. I turned around my smile vanished. It was Amanda.

"Hi! I'm sorry to disappoint you. Were you waiting for your boyfriend?"

"Um… well Nick and I… we had a fight and I-"

"OMG! Did you two split up?" She shouted, making lots of girls look in our direction.

"I don't know…"

"Oh honey, came here." She gestured me to hug her. "He's not worth it."

I laughed and we walked to our class. I walked into the classroom and search for them again, but they weren't here either. I sat down on the table where Nick and I had our first 'conversation'. I laughed remembering that day. The day we'd fallen in love.

The day went slowly, classes were boring and I didn't see Nick or any of the hotties anywhere.

I was on my way to the cafeteria with Amanda when I saw them. Alex and Cammie were sitting on a table eating. This was the perfect opportunity to talk to them and convince them I wasn't their enemy. If Cam was on my side then she'd convince Nick. I walked towards their table. With every step I walked closer to them, my heart started to beat faster in my chest.

Suddenly they looked up in my direction, and I wanted to die. Their eyes were burning me like fire. There was so much hate that it was pretty scary and dangerous. This was not going to go as smooth as I hoped for. Their eyes shouted war, and I was their enemy.

"Hey," I said.

I wasn't prepared for this. I was prepared to kill leeches, but not for this. This wasn't as easy as it looked like when I was practicing in front of my mirror.

They remained silent, looking hard at me.

"I need to explain-"

"Honestly, we don't care," Alex interrupted me.

"Just let me explain you what hap-"

"Nick's already told us about your _friends_, so there's nothing you need to explain. Just leave us alone ok?" Alex interrupted me again.

I turned my eyes to look at Cammie. She was angry too but there was something in her eyes that showed the opposite. She looked sad.

"Cammie, please-"

"You shouldn't be here, Leah. You're wasting your time and ours," Cam replied, not looking at me in the eyes.

"I know what you're thinking. You think that I've disappointed you, but-"

"Leah, you are friends with _leeches_. You don't understand what they've done to our kind, especially to Nick and Cammie. And I think you knew it. They kill us for sport, and you are friends with them," Alex said starting to get pissed. "Just look at you, you are _different_ because of them, not to play with them," Alex added in between clenched teeth.

"You don't understand, you don't know them-"

"How can you say we don't understand? We've been _living_ in this world for thousands of years, and you say we don't know them?" Alex continued.

"Please, listen to me. Cammie, please," I begged her.

"I always supported you, Leah, but this time… you knew about our past with _them_-"

"Cam-"

"No Leah! Leave us alone-" Alex whispered harshly.

I interrupted Alex. "Some months ago, I almost die, and fate sent me an angel, because Nick saved me." This last statement made them shut up, and they listened to me. "After taking me out of the water, he left and I fainted. I lost too much blood and almost die but the Cullens saved me. To be honest I hated them since the first day I met them, and as you said Alex, they made me become what I am now." I paused and took a deep breath. "I hated them, and the mere thought of being closer to them made me want to puke, until that day. The day they saved me." They looked at each other. Alex was ready to start shouting again but I stopped him. "Before you start arguing again, let me add that the patriarch is a doctor, he helps humans, and they don't drink human blood."

"Leah, we really don't care what they eat or what they do. They are still leeches," Alex stated.

"They are different, like you are different to others of your kind."

"How dare you compare them with us?" Alex exclaimed angry by such comparison.

"Why not? Didn't you say you were different from other werewolves? Didn't you say you were more human? Well, they are different than other vampires."

"They are leeches! They are bad and they'll always be."

"You know what is funny? One day a smart girl told me that there's good and evil in all people and it's their decision to choose which side to follow," I said looking at Cammie who was watching as Alex and I argued.

"Ha. I would like to know who that stupid girl was."

"It was me, Alex. Thank you very much," Cam answered him.

"They _are_ leeches, and they'll always be leeches for us," a male voice said from behind me. I turned around and there he was, Nick. If I was afraid of Alex's and Cam's eyes when I saw them, Nick's were horrifying. "Alex, Cam, let's go. We need to be somewhere else."

Nick turned on his heels ignoring me at all and walked to the exit door, Alex and Cam followed him.

This battle was lost…

I watched as Nick and Alex exited the room, before disappearing Cam turned around and looked at me in the eye. Her eyes were showing… trust? She trusted me?

Maybe this battle wasn't completely lost.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter ****27: And things keep getting worse.**

Trust… Camille trusted me! She believed in what I told her! She was on my side once again. Or was it my imagination that wanted to make me believe she trusted in what I told her?

I was trying to make her understand that _vampires_ were good. I wouldn't have believed something like this years ago. Let me rephrase that. I didn't believe it months ago. For me, vampires were leeches, bloodsuckers. I hated them, especially this coven. They were the ones that made me change into a wolf. I always blamed them for who I became and although they didn't eat, drink or whatever verb they used to say they suck human blood, they still were monsters that I hated. And now I was trying to explain it to a werewolf (half werewolf) that vampires were good.

Now that I thought about it, of course she wouldn't believe me! Vampires and werewolves were mortal enemies, and the only vampires that she ever met were the ones that killed her father and almost killed her too.

Cam was an open minded person. She was always supporting everyone for whatever choice or decision. It was in her nature. I remember the days when Nick and I didn't get along, she was always there next to me, protecting me from her own brother, supporting me, and encouraging me to give love a try again and, if there was something I knew about her, it was that she loved me. Not in a romantic way, but she loved me as a sister, as family. I was part of her family now. She _had_ to believe in me. She was the only one that could help me. I needed her on my side this time, more than ever, because if there was someone in this world that could convince Nick and the others about the Cullens, that would be her.

I finished eating my last pancake quickly. I stood up and walked out of the cafeteria. I needed to find her and talk to her.

The fresh winter air kissed my face when I exited the building. It was at times like this that I could really enjoy my extremely hot body temperature. As I walked, my mind passed from sweet Cammie's eyes to Nick's. I remember the look in his eyes the last time I saw him, his eyes were fire and full of hate and I was afraid that they would always look at me that way. He hated me. He hated that I liked what he hated the most. But why couldn't he trust me? Why couldn't he at least listen to my explanation about the Cullens being nice peo-mythical creatures?

I was back from thinking-land when I heard him. Nick, Noah, Elliott, Alex and Cam were all talking in a corner, whispering agitated. A human wouldn't have been able to hear them but I could listen to everything as clear as if I were next to them.

"I think it was someone from inside," Elliott whispered. He looked like he had run away from a hurricane or something.

"We need to investigate who the traitor was," Noah suggested.

"No! No one will investigate anything, because there's nothing to investigate," Nick growled nervously.

"Why not? There's obviously someone from inside that's betraying us," Cam intervened.

Nick seemed more nervous. "No one will investigate anything, do you understand? Don't make me order it to you."

"And what if they attack? We need to go somewhere far from here. This place is full of humans!"

"Humans are everywhere, Cammie."

"And what about-"

"_Her_? She can go back with those leeches she loves so much."

"Nick, she needs-"

"Enough! I don't want any of you near her, do you understand?" Nick commanded.

They all murmured a yes.

"But Nick, what if she-"

"Don't make me order it to you, Camille. Stay away from her. If she loves the leeches so much, then she'll be our enemy too. You more than anyone should know what that kind is like. They almost destroyed you too." He sighed sadly. "My command is for everyone to stay away from her. Do you understand?"

What. The. Fuck?

"Leah!" Amanda shouted from behind me motioning me to go towards her. I turned my eyes back to the group of hotties, but they weren't there anymore.

* * *

A week had passed since hearing the conversation between Nick and the hotties. He had commanded the guys to stay away from me, and they had accepted. All of them, even Cammie did, because to my dislike, they were all ignoring me. Well, not that they had hard, because they weren't attending classes so they didn't have to see me.

Nick on the other hand, wasn't going to college at all, and I was dying to see his beautiful face and to show him a little piece of my mind for commanding the guys to ignore me. I was furious with him! First, for ordering them to stay away from '_her'_ and second, because he was an idiot! I know the second statement wasn't true, but what kind of man did this to the girl he declared he loved? If he loved me only a bit, he wouldn't be doing this to me, he wouldn't be thinking of me as the enemy.

I walked to class and to my surprise Camille, Noah and Alex were in class today… or not. Although they were physically there they looked like they were dead, well they were already dead, but now they looked like they were more dead.

The hotties weren't the hotties anymore, they looked stressed, tired and they were alert all the time, like worried someone was going to attack them any moment. But those weren't the only changes. Their beautiful faces had dark purple, almost black, circles underneath their eyes and their usual happy faces had a dull and expressionless look. They looked terrible! Something must be going on, something really bad, and I was going to find it out.

Classes started and we were studying a subject that I really enjoyed, but my mind kept wondering why their faces looked so tired. Why were they eyeing everyone so suspiciously? I looked at them, waiting to see if there was any kind of approach of them towards me, but there was nothing. They kept listening to the professor, talking between themselves sometimes, but giving no indication or knowledge that I was there. I was invisible to them.

When we were almost at the middle of the class, we heard a loud howl near the campus. Alex, Cam and Noah immediately looked out of the window. They all exchanged a worried look and then Alex stood up and left the class. The teacher didn't even bother saying anything to him, not that she could have. Alex could make anyone go speechless if he looked directly to your eyes. He was a very sexy guy. I couldn't understand how Camille hadn't jump on him yet. With those beautiful blue eyes and that body, and that smile, he was every girl's dreamy boy.

Focusing again. Something was going on, but what could it be that got them so nervous and worried all of a sudden? Or should I say who?

When the class was over, I tried to ask them what was going on, but they were gone by the time I left the class.

The rest of the classes passed quickly (luckily!), and in only 15 minutes I would end with my last class of the day. I had a quick look around the class. Some people were chatting, others were writing and reading. I focused on them. Cam was sleeping and Noah was watching her sleep. If I didn't know them I would find that creepy, but since I knew them, I knew Noah was trying to read her mind trying to see what was going on in that head that could see future events.

"Okay class, you can leave," the professor announced.

Everybody stood up and left the classroom. Noah picked Cammie up bridal-style and took her outside of the room and I followed them. When they were outside, Cam woke up and was talking nervously to Noah.

This was my opportunity to face them and for them to give me some answers. From the group of werewolves, they both were the nicest, so they wouldn't ignore me that easily.

"There's someone from inside that is going to betray us. I'm sure of it now," Cam whispered.

"What about your dream, Cam? Couldn't you see anything else?"

"I've already told you… I was in that clearing and- Do you need something?" She asked turning to look at me.

"Um… I-"

Noah motioned for Cam to follow him, and they started walking away.

"Cam, wait! I-"

"Leah, stay away from us," she said in an angry tone.

"But I thought you… the Cullens-"

"They are vampires, Leah. Stay away from us!" Cammie said again, her eyes dark and determined. "Don't come looking for us anymore. You'll be only wasting your time... and ours."

"Cammie, please…"

"Let's go, Cam."

They turned their backs to me and walked away.

And Camille was lost too… my only hope… my only light has switched off.

* * *

They didn't come back. Not even for a class. It'd been three months since I last saw them. Two freaking months without a trace of their lives. Not even a sign of them being okay. Nothing. Nada. They were gone forever. I would never see their faces, or talked to them again.

Why was I so obsessed with them? Why did I still care for them? For him? He hurt me the most and I was still caring and loving him. Why? I really wished he was here right now so I could give a little piece of my mind to that bastard.

I wanted nothing more than stop this feeling of loneliness. I wanted to escape and go somewhere, anywhere.

But what was wrong with me? Why couldn't I recover from this?

Sighing I put my last belonging into my suitcase. I was going back home for the falls break.

* * *

I smelled them. They were all there. Just what I needed! Note the sarcasm.

I pushed the door open very slowly, maybe they wouldn't hear me enter and I could sneak avoiding the questions. But who was I trying to kid? These guys could hear even the sound of a leaf falling.

"Leah, baby?" Mom shouted from the kitchen, and ran towards me.

"Mom," I whispered, when she hugged me hard.

She broke the hug and smiled at me. After her Seth came running and he was hugging me too. Seriously what was with the hugs in this family?

After Seth finally stopped crashing my bones with his arms, everyone started asking me about Nick, or Cam, college, but our pack moment was interrupted when someone cleared their throat, taking our attention towards _him_. Yes, you guessed it. Samuel Uley.

"Welcome back, Leah," he said, his eyes dancing happily. Fucker! He was happy because he knew I didn't solve things with Nick.

"Sam," I answered him in a bored tone.

"So you're back?" He asked, again that happiness dancing in his eyes.

How should I answer to that question? Option #1: Yes, you stupid dumbass, if I wasn't back I wouldn't be standing here. Or Option #2: Excuse me but I need to change, you dumbass.

Option #1 was tempting, but I went with #2.

"I bet that dog dumped her and that's why she's back," Paul whispered.

"Hey, watch out what you say about my Beta in front of me, Paul. I think my sister would like you in one piece," Jake said.

I entered my room and lay in bed. Paul was so right. I was back because _he_ dumped me.

What was fucking wrong with me? Why was he always in my thoughts? Why?

I got up and started to unpack. I could hear the conversation they boys were having downstairs, but I ignored them.

Once the clothes were put away, I started with the books… well I wasn't going to read them any time soon… or ever again, so they would do fine for the next bonfire. I was making a pile with them, when a dictionary fell and opened to the letter D.

Yes, thanks a lot Fate, Destiny or whoever you are that wants to screw my life up. Thanks a lot!

**Depression: a state of low mood and aversion to activity. While often described as a dysfunction, there are also strong arguments for seeing depression as an adaptive defense mechanism.**

Depressed? Was I depressed? The hell was I going to give him that satisfaction! I wasn't depressed this time. That was how I felt when Sam left me for my cousin. I was depressed. But now, all I could feel now was disappointment and anger. That was exactly what I was: disappointed and angry. Disappointed for believing in someone who never cared about me, who never trusted me, and angry at myself (mostly) for believing in something that was never true _again_!

I'd been heartbroken for too long, this wasn't going to make me breakdown as Sam did. _He_ wasn't going to win. Sam did, but not _him_. I'd learnt from my mistakes, and this time no one was going to break my heart again. Not even the most wonderful guy created. Not even _him_, especially not him.

From today on, Leah Clearwater wouldn't open her heart to anyone. Leah Clearwater wouldn't shed a tear for any guy. Leah Clearwater was going to love and care only for her family and herself.

Yes, everyone could start fearing, because the bitch was back!

I ran down just in time to hear Paul say, "Well, she deserved it for being such a bitch!" And that was all I need. I walked towards him and punched him really hard.

_I want to thank you, __Quileute genes, for giving me the power of strength. Amen._

"You stupid, fat, good for nothing, watch your words about me in my house," I shouted. I took a deep breath to stop my shaking. "If I ever hear you or anyone else talking about me, I will castrate you. Am I clear?" I whispered menacingly, looking at Sam's pack. They all nodded, fear was writing all over their faces. I wasn't going to take more shit from anyone. "Now what the hell are _they _doing here?" I asked pointing at Sam's pack.

"Leah, we have a problem," Jake said. "There's someone or something coming towards us. Alice had this weird vision but she couldn't see it clear. We don't know what it is or who it is, so Sam was here helping us plan a strategy in case we have an attack."

What? Something was coming here? Someone was coming to attack here… _too_? Could this be a coincidence? Or was this the same threat the hotties were talking about?

I started to panic. What if this threat first went to the hotties and then came to us, or what if it was the other way around? I needed to know more about this vision Alice had. I needed answers and explanations.

"I need to go see Alice, Jake," I said.

"We were planning on running to the Cullens before you came. You can come with us. Sam, if you see anything out of normal, howl and we'll be there, okay? Guys, come on! Let's try to stay all together. We fight better that way," Jake spoke, showing his leadership qualities.

We phased and ran to the Cullens' house. While running the guys showed me what had been happening. Images of the day Alice told them about her vision where in the four boys' minds, each seeing it in their different point of view. I could see the worried look of Alice and Edward. I saw Bella hugging Renesmee tightly. Carlisle was trying to calm Esme down. Emmett and Jasper were discussing war strategies. And Rosalie was looking at my brothers while hugging Alice.

In only minutes we were in the Crypt. Yes, the Crypt, I liked the Cullens now, but Crypt was way shorter than the Cullens' House. We changed into our clothes and ran to the door Edward must have opened for us.

The vampire stench almost knocked me out. After months of not smelling it, my nose wasn't so used to it.

"Leah," Rosalie and Alice shouted running at vampire speed towards me and hugged me. Yes, everyone seemed to think I liked hugs.

"It's nice to see you again, Leah," Emmett said from behind them.

I broke the embrace and looked at the Cullens for the first time after all these months in college. Esme was sitting next to Bella and Renesmee in the couch. Damn! That girl grew fast! She looked like she was 4 or 5 years old. Emmett and Jasper where standing near the window. Edward was sitting at his piano, playing a smooth song. Rosalie and Alice where both next to me smiling, but you could see the tiredness and sadness in their eyes. It must be really sad to be always in danger because of their special gifts or because they wanted to kill a member of their family because she was 'illegal'. Carlisle was nowhere in sight, so he must have been in his study.

"Carlisle is working," Edward answered to my unasked question.

_So we are having a war this time, right?_ I thought, looking at Edward.

"Why did you call her, Jacob?" Edward asked Jacob. "She was safe in college."

"We didn't call her. She came on her own," he answered.

They all looked at me. It was not the right moment to tell them my werewolf boyfriend decided to disappear for months and I felt lonely for the falls break so I decided to come.

_Edward, don't say anything, please... or I'll castrate you and burn your 'friend', am I clear?_

He nodded.

"I decided to visit for the fall break. And thank god I decided to come back! Were you planning on fighting without me?"

"We don't know if what is coming is a threat or not," Alice answered.

"We are just being careful and preparing if that's the case," Emmett added.

"How can you not know? Isn't Alice's vision enough proof?"

"Alice's visions change at the last minute if your mind changes and she can't see you wolves..." Jasper said.

"What you're saying is that she can't see the vision clear because the threat is related to us?" I asked pointing with my finger to Jake, Embry, Quil, Seth and I. "They want to attack _us_. Not you."

"We are family, Leah. We won't abandon you," Edward said firmly, "We'll-" He stopped and his eyes widen. I followed his gaze. Alice. He was looking at Alice who was in trance.

She was having a vision. A vision no one was expecting. She was having a vision that would change everything, that was telling us that something or someone was after us, and my heart stopped for a minute when she said, "I can't see Carlisle."

Shit!

* * *

_**Oh-oh!**_

_**Next chapter will be coming next year. :P**_

_**HAPPY NEW YEAR!**_


	29. Chapter 28

**Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Laura... Happy birthday to you! **

* * *

**Chapter ****28: Playing hide and seek is a dangerous game.**

"In the hospital, they've said he left two hour ago and he was fine."

"I've spoken with Charlie and he said he saw him driving through the main road in Forks about an hour ago."

"Did he answer his cell phone yet?"

"No, he's still not answering it."

"Try again."

"I've called Linda, the nurse he sometimes takes home, and she said Carlisle drove her home and then headed this way."

"Where's Grandpa, Grandma?"

"He'll be here soon, honey. Why don't you go play with Jake?"

"Alice have you seen him yet?"

"No, I can't see him at all."

"Edward can you hear anything?"

"Nothing."

Where was Carlisle? Why couldn't Alice see his future? Was he 'dead'? I knew everyone was wondering that, and I didn't need Edward's power to know it. We were all wondering the same, and all we knew was... nothing.

Every human reacted in a different way when something bad happened. Some people went into a panic attack, others cried, others tried to find a solution and others… well, others started to freak out, panicked and cried. The Cullens' reactions were the same as any other human. It was weird to see them reacting like this, but Carlisle was the father figure they had.

Jasper, Embry and Quil were tracing in a map the possible places where Carlisle could be. Alice and Edward were using their gifts, trying to hear or see something that might give them a clue to where Carlisle could be. Esme, Rosalie and Emmett were making phone calls. Seth and Jake were playing with Renesmee trying to make the girl stop asking about his grandfather. And what was Bella doing? If your answer was freaking out, panicking, crying (or pretending to be crying) and pacing at vampire speed, then you got that right! When you thought that becoming a vampire would make this girl stop being so over-dramatic, she found a way to show you how wrong you were. Bella actually managed to make a vampire look stu-

Edward looked at me, making me stop that sentence.

_I guess that when something bad is happening my way of reacting is by being sarcastic, Eddie._ I lied, trying to cover my bitching towards Bella. Edward casted me another look. He heard what I just thought. _Okay, what do you expect me to do when she's acting like that? For god's sake, she's a freaking vampire now!_

Edward was about to reply to me, but the phone started ringing and everyone stopped doing what they were doing and turned their heads to the ringing phone. Again, I didn't need Eduardo's power to know everyone was hoping it was Carlisle calling them, telling he had a problem with the car or that he was going to be late because he was sucking some deer on his way home.

Edward answered the phone. "Hello?" Pause. "Just a moment." He passed me the phone. "It's your mother."

_Way to go mom! What a way of ruining a moment here!_

"Mom?"

"Leah, where are you? What's going on? Are you alright? Where's your brother? Is he with you?"

Remember what I said about the panic reactions people had, well, my mom was the Queen of them, and I could tell that she was pacing, crying and freaking out while talking to me on the phone.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Leah, please come home," she sobbed.

Suddenly someone took the phone from her. "Lee-Lee, come back home, please!"

"Sam? Sam, what's going on?"

"Leah, a woman and two men came to your house a while ago."

"So?"

"Lee-Leah, let me explain. They told your mom that they were friends of yours and needed to talk to you. She said they looked really anxious to see you. Paul and I were coming back from our patrols when we smelled a strange scent, we follow it and it took us to your house. When we got near to see if everything was okay, we noticed that the scent belonged to a tall brunette and two men, one blond and the other a huge guy. We got closer, to make sure they weren't bothering your mom, but they somehow noticed we were heading their way and suddenly they were gone. In a blink of an eye they weren't there any more. We went to see if your mom was okay and then phased to follow them but we lost their track. When we got back to your house Sue explained what they wanted, she said they were all very attractive, and something in their eyes warned her that they weren't human. When they asked for you, she answered you weren't there but they insisted to know where you were." He took a deep breath. "Leah, is there a possibility that your friends are werewolves? They didn't smell like leeches and by the way they left all I can think about is werewolves."

A woman and two men? A brunette, a blond hair guy and a huge man? No, they couldn't be here, could they? Could that be Cammie, Alex and Elliott? But what were they doing here? What was going on? Where they okay?

"Leah, you still there," Sam interrupted my thoughts.

"I don't know what you are talking about Sam," I tried to answer as cool as possible, at the same time as I was trying to think of something different so Mind-Rapist (_Yeah, I called you Mind-Rapist, Eddie!_) didn't get the hotties' secret.

"Leah, don't try to fool me! They smelled different than humans do and they didn't smell like leeches either. The way they escaped… They weren't humans and they knew you, so you must know them too! If there's something you know about them, how to kill them, say it now. Leah, my pack is running looking for them, and once we find them, we'll need to destroy them."

"What?" I shouted losing my trying-to-be-cool attitude. "Sam, is there any creature that you don't have the need to kill before knowing?" That dude was obsessed on killing any thing that he didn't know about. He planned on killing Renesmee before even knowing what she was, before she was even born; not that we knew much about what she was now, Renesmee was still an enigma, a freak…

I was brought back to the phone call when Edward coughed angrily. This dude took every single thought _too_ personal. _I was going to add a freak like me, Edwardo._

Sam was still talking about his Alpha decision and his Alpha orders, and blah, blah, blah. He thought that everything was solved by killing the strange creature.

"Carlisle is here," Edward suddenly shouted. I hung up without even a goodbye to Sam and ran to the front door where Carlisle has just walked through. His beautiful face filled with worry. Esme walked towards him and hugged him while the rest greeted him with 'What happened?' and 'Are you okay?'

"She's disappeared just like that?" Edward asked.

Carlisle nodded. He might have shown Edward what happened.

_What now?_

"A girl is missing," he answered. "You were driving and you found her in the middle of the road?"

"Not exactly. I was driving home, and suddenly I saw someone lying on the floor next to the road. I stopped the car and approached them, and there she was, a beautiful young woman lying unconscious. She woke up a couple of minutes later. I asked her what happened and she said she was having a walk through the woods that she thought that she might have fallen, tripping with a rock and hitting her head, but the strange thing was that I didn't find any bruises on her." Carlisle frowned. "I tried to help her stand up on her feet and when our hands touched, her arm started shaking hard. It was like if she were afraid of me. I told her my name and that I was a doctor that she didn't need to be afraid of me because I only wanted to help her. She stopped shaking and tried to get up but fall again to the floor. She had a twisted ankle and couldn't stand up. I had my aid kit on the car, and there I had some bandages that I could use on her ankle," Carlisle explained with that smooth voice. "I was walking to the car but she stopped me holding my hand. She thanked me and told me she was sorry for not trusting before. I told her not to worry, and that I liked helping people. I walked to the car, took the bandages, and when I turned around she wasn't there anymore. She was gone. I run for about an hour trying to see if she was nearby, but she'd just disappeared and I couldn't find her." He sighed.

"Why didn't you follow her scent?" Quil asked in a duh voice.

"I did, Quil. I followed it for a couple of miles, but suddenly her scent disappeared too. I couldn't find it anywhere. It was all very strange."

"So, that crazy chic disappeared. Like puff! No scent, no idea where she can be." Rose made the puff noise moving her hands to make a better statement.

Carlisle nodded.

"There's a human in the forest whose scent disappeared. You know what that means, right?" Jake asked looking at us. "We need to run some patrols and see if we can find her."

"Jacob, I'd like to help you. After all, if we find her she will feel better if she sees a familiar face," Carlisle said.

"Okay, doc. You can join us if you want," Jake said.

"We'll help too," Jasper said, and Emmett nodded his head in agreement.

"Count me in," Rose added.

"And us," Edward and Alice said at the same time.

"We could ask Sam's pack to help us too," Embry suggested.

"Now, that you mentioned Sam, what did he want, Leah?"

Sam? Shit! Cammie, Elliott and Alex! What if he found them? No way! They were too good runners...

"He just wanted to convince me to join his pack again. That asshole…" I lied.

"Okay." He shrugged. "Let's go!"

After organizing our running teams, I headed with mine to the north. My team was composed of Paul, Colin, Emmett and Bella. Yes, you heard that right. Bella decided to join us, leaving Renesmee with Esme. Sam's pack join us too, after losing the trace of the 3 'unknown creatures' they were following, and decided to help us find the missing girl in the forest, I decided to call 'the missing girl in the forest'.

So here I was running with my two favorite people: Paul and Bella…

_It isn't that bad__, Leah, _Jake said.

_I will never forgive you for forcing me to go with Paul and Bella, Jake._

_Leah, please try to understand, every team needed a leader, you are my Beta, so I thought you could lead that group. I trust you that much, can't you see it?_

_Sure… _I thought rolling my eyes. He just wanted to control Paul and after my encounter with him some hours ago, he thought I was able to avoid him causing problems because of the Cullens being so close to us. At least I didn't hear his thoughts, so he wasn't really annoying me, and by the way he was looking at me I think he was scared of me, but still I didn't like that kid.

_And Bella? At least Bella isn't annoying you__,_ Jake commented after hearing my thoughts.

_No, Bella is not annoying me__. She's annoying the world in general. Even Emmett that likes everyone is annoyed by her. _Bella kept distracting us, telling she found the girl's scent with every strange smell she found. _Jake, I think she should have stayed at home reading some freaking Jane Austen book, and stop making it so hard not to jump on her and rip her head off._

We ran, and ran, and ran a bit more, but nothing. There was no trace of the girl, not even her scent. The smell started on the road where Carlisle found her, then it went into the forest for some miles, and then in a clearing it disappeared. It was like if she was absorbed by the ground or something.

Jake told us to join them in the clearing near the Cullens where we were going to have a meeting and try to see what and where to look next. When we arrived Jasper's team (Rose, Brady, and Embry) and Jake's team (Edward, Jared, and Quil) where waiting there already. I hide behind a tree and phased back, changed into my clothes and walked towards Jake and Jasper who were planning about doing a second round of running patrols.

Sam's team (Alice, Seth, and Carlisle) suddenly appeared in the clearing.

"We didn't find any trace, any footprint, any scent, anything. What about you, Jake?" Sam asked. Yes, Jasper and I were team leaders too but Sam had to ignore the vamp and the bitch.

"We didn't find anything either, and same for Leah and Jasper. We think on going for another round, and even going to the Canadian border," Jake informed him.

"How is it possible that her scent disappeared and we can't find it again, Jake?" Again with the ignoring the bitch and the vamp…

"I don't know. It's like the ground absorbed her or something."

"Sorry about that," A female voice I knew too well said from behind me.

"That's the girl," Carlisle whispered.

I turned around to face no other than Camille who was smiling playfully.

I turned to the Cullens and Sam's pack to tell them not to attack her, that she was a friend, but it wasn't necessary, they were all gawking at her. It wasn't a surprise to see their reactions, Camille was very beautiful, and if she could make a cool-hearted leech like Caius fell in love with her, she could get any guy she wanted... vampire, werewolf or human, and in this case not even the imprinted guys or the married Cullen's men could take their eyes of her. Not even… Edward?

_The faithful and Bella worshipper, Edward Cullen, is having dirty thoughts about another woman that is not Bella? I must inform her about your indecent thoughts. _I joked. Edward looked at me shame in his eyes, like if he had cheated Bella or something. _Relax Ed, I was just kidding._

I turned my attention back to Cam, and I asked her angrily, "So, you've been playing with us? You knew we were looking for you, but you decided to play hide and seek?"

"It was not my intention to play hide and seek, Lee, but I didn't want you to see me, _yet_. I needed to test something," she answered using an innocent voice.

"What do you want, Camille?" I asked trying to show her I was still angry with her. "Did you come and check if I was planning on attacking you? Planning with your _enemies_ how to destroy you? You didn't trust me and you decided to come to check I'm not telling them all your secrets?"

"I'm sorry, if you feel like I pushed you away, Leah. I don't see it that way… it was all we could do, and maybe you'll understand it one day…"

"Understand it? What the hell, Camille? Once you found out I befriended vampires, you called me a traitor! That's all I need to understand! You don't like vampires! You didn't even bother to listen to me when I tried to explain that they weren't bad, but you kept calling me a liar! What else do you want me to understand?"

"Great, take it all out. Now are you more relaxed?"

"Sarcasm isn't your thing, Cam."

"Being a bitch isn't your thing either, Lee."

Somehow that comment made me smile. If only she knew my past, my relationship with the pack when I first phased, the names my pack brothers called me: Bitch, Queen Bitch, Bitchy, B-girl, and Bitchilla.

"What are you doing here, Cam?"

"As I said before, I wanted to make sure what you said was true."

"And what's the verdict?"

"I'm impressed! Is not every day that you find a group of vampires so worried about a simple human girl. I thought the doctor wanted to make me his prey when I first saw him, but then I saw he was so worry to help me. My mind changed about you after that, but then I thought 'what about his family?' What if he is good but his coven isn't? I had to try, and you didn't disappoint me. Vampires joining shape-shifters to find the weak human girl lost in the woods, and not interesting in eating her, I would have felt flattered if I were a human… too bad I'm not!"

The La Push boys and the Cullens were shocked when Cam mentioned vampires and shape-shifters; of course, they didn't know she was a werewolf-fairy or fairy-werewolf.

I looked at Camille again, she had explained why she was here, but I still didn't understand why she bothered to come and check what I said was truth or not. She might have guessed what I was thinking because she immediately added, "I'm sorry I had to see it with my own eyes except by believing in what you told us the other day, Leah, but in these past days I couldn't trust anyone, not even my own family," she said looking to the floor.

_She could trust h__er family? What happened? _

As if hearing my thoughts Cam answered, "They are all behaving strangely. And Nick…"

"Nick…" I whispered.

"He isn't himself anymore. He's been acting secretly and his attitude is worst than when he went through his dark-side period. I think he's hiding something." She furrowed her eyebrows. "Anyways, I'm not here to talk about my brother. The reason I'm here is for something much worse…"

"Why don't we go for a walk and we talk more privately?" I asked her.

"No, Lee. This concerns them too," she said pointing to the Cullens and the two packs, who didn't understand what was going on. "I've just came to tell you're all in danger."

"We're in danger of what?" Sam asked.

Cammie looked at him and then turned his eyes back to me, "I'm afraid _they_ found us, Lee. _They_ know we are here, and they are coming to destroy us, but not only us, also the coven they fear the most. The coven that could equal them in a fight and you shape-shifters, the creatures _they_ don't understand and fear."

"Who are '_they_'?" Jake intervened.

"The Volturi. They are coming here and I'm afraid this will be a huge war," Cam said.

"That's impossible! If they were to come here I'll see them. My gift is to see the future, so I'll know if they wanted to come," Alice said.

"Did you see me coming? Did you see the doctor's future today when he was with me?"

"No," Alice replied.

"I think that's because you are a werewolf… fairy," I said not sure what to call her. "She can't see the pack either."

"Exactly! That's the reason why you won't see them. The Volturi are coming, but they aren't coming alone. They are leaded by-"

"Me," a familiar voice said.

You'd got to be kidding me! This couldn't be happening!

Alice couldn't have never seen them coming, because the Volturi were leaded by a werewolf. A werewolf I knew…

* * *

Oh-oh! :O Any guesses on who the werewolf is?

**IMPORTANT!** If you enjoy participating in one-shot contests, my friend Le Crepuscule and I are hosting the **'Missing Moments Contest'**. Your one-shots can be about anything missing on the Twilight saga books. The interaction between Sam and Emily when he mauled her to Carlisle changing one of the Cullens. When Quil imprinted on Claire to the life in Volterra (story of any Volturi). The contest started **yesterday** and it will be opened until **Friday April 30, 2010 12:00 AM PST. **To participate go here: **http:/fanfiction-challenges(dot)blogspot(dot)com/** (Change the '(dot)' for full stops). Hope to see your one-shots there!


	30. Chapter 29

**Before reading the chapter, have a quick look at the character's info in my profile, because most of the original characters will appear, and you might have forgotten their names.**

**T****his chapter is my gift for 2 amazing girls. I couldn't get her a chapter for her birthday, so Elena this is my late b-day gift for you. And Jackie yesterday was your birthday, so this one is also for you! Oh and before I forget, Kat congratulations on your graduation, this goes to you too!**

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**Chapter ****29: The war.**

The rain was the only missing thing to this so natural situation in this nice place called La Push, house of monsters, where we, the supernatural creatures, loved to meet from time to time. All the guests were here already. There were the well dressed, clean, and elegant Cullens. Then there were the dirty, shirtless, and rude packs, and on the other side the rich, powerful, and luxurious royal bloodsuckers.

I recognized some of the most powerful guards next to the boss; the Evil Twins (Make-you-senseless boy and Burning Mind chick), then there was Emmett II, the Cutie-Tracker, the Matchmaker Vamp, and Shield Chick.

Everything was ready to get this party started. Now, the question was: who was going to give the first move?

"Well, well, well… Look what we've got here!" Obviously, the first one to talk had to be the mafia Boss-sucker, Aro. "Carlisle and his _family _withthe guard dogs, and Camille. What a lovely surprise to see you here, darling! It's been so long since we last saw you, _princess_. When was it? Let me think… Oh, yes! I remember now, the last time we saw you was that really sad day when your father died. Such a sad day. I believe that after that, you needed some time alone to mourn his death, and then we lost contact with you. You have to promise me that we'll keep in touch from now on." He smiled innocently at Cam. "Now, look at you, darling! You look as beautiful as always, my dear." He continued speaking with that singing voice positioning himself next to the werewolf standing in front of us.

I looked towards Cam, wondering what she was going to do, if she was going to jump on that leech and rip his head off or if she was going to jump on her half-sibling first. She didn't do any of those things. She stood next to me, and she didn't even bat an eyelid after the bloodsucker's full of venom words. Camille had her eyes settled only on the traitor that was leading the Volturi, the traitor that was blood of her blood.

"How could you do this?" She finally spoke, keeping her focus on the person in front of us.

"Why not?" The werewolf answered shrugging. "Come on, Camille! You weren't expecting me to become friends with those leeches," the werewolf pointed to the Cullens, "just for _her_, right?" _She_ spat pointing at me. "Although I have to thank her for appearing in our lives, she's become the perfect distraction to you all. I can get back what should've always belonged to me. Now, the throne will be mine. Only mine… my treasure," she said, speaking like Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

_Okay, th__at last part was a total lie, an invention of my mind. I laughed at my joke. Only I could be joking in a moment like this. Keep focus here, Leah._

Camille was ready to jump on her, but stopped when the woman in front of us moved her hands and at least 30 vampire guards came out from behind the trees and surrounded us. Some of Sam's pack boys were shaking, ready to phase and start killing leeches. Sam had to order them to stay calm with his Alpha voice to stop them. Jasper, being the army major he was, was watching carefully possible ways of attack.

"Don't be stupid, Cammie. If you want to stay alive for a little more, it would be better if you stayed still, unless you want the guards to rip your new friends' heads off. Which I'd have no problem with," _she_ said.

If you haven't guessed who the traitor was yet, I'd answer that question for you. The tall black-haired werewolf standing in front of us was no other than Vivien, Nick and Camille's older sister. She was the one betraying her family. Betraying them just for a stupid throne? Where had I heard a similar story?

"You've teamed with our enemies, just for the stupid throne?" Cam asked.

"You say it's stupid because you've never had a chance in becoming queen, dear sister. It was always Nicholas and I fighting for the place. I was the first child of the King, but our father had to choose him because he was his only son. Our father was a male chauvinist and that was the only reason why he picked Nicholas to be the heir to the throne, but I had more rights than he had; I was the first one. And know I'm the only heiress, except for you, but you won't stay alive much longer; Aro and his brothers have promised to help me get rid of you, my only competitor."

"What do you mean by the only competitor? Nicholas will never let you get to the throne. You may kill me, but when he finds out what you did, he will kill you with no mercy. There will be no family connection. No more anything, you'll become the enemy."

"Nicholas. I've forgotten about him." She laughed. "But now that you've mentioned him, let me tell you that your lovely brother is dead."

Said what?

"What? That's not true," Cammie shouted.

"Well, don't you think it's weird that you can't communicate with him with the telepathy connection? Don't you think that's very strange that our overprotective brother isn't checking on you?"

"He can't be… What have you done, Vivien?" She whispered.

"I'm very sorry, Camille. I'm afraid it was my fault," Aro interrupted the two sisters with an innocent voice. "I might be the cause of that… You see, Vivien was nice enough to invite us to your secret home, which I loved by the way, and I had a craving for a cigarette, but I was so clumsy that the lighter felt to the floor and burnt the tree… I'm so sorry…" The leech faked a sad face.

"Don't worry, Cam. They didn't suffer much. Their screams could be heard only for a couple of minutes," Vivien said looking at her sister.

Nick was dead? I couldn't believe it. That was impossible! He couldn't be dead! The worst thing was that I didn't feel anything. I didn't want to cry, or punch Vivien. My body felt numb, my head was spinning around. I felt a squeeze in my left hand. I looked down, and saw Camille's hand holding tightly mine.

"What do _they_ get when you get the throne? More werewolves' lives. You promised them they could kill us all?"

"No more deaths for our people, Camille. Remember that this war started because of you. When I get what belonged to me, Aro and I will create a union, and we'll rule the world. When we finally get to the power, it will be forbidden to kill any supernatural creatures; there will be no more rules of hiding, no more rules of not killing humans," Vivien replied smirking.

"You really believe they won't kill you when they get what they want! Don't you see they are just using you? When they get what they want they'll kill you!"

"Camille, what you are saying is horrible. We just want to help. To join, and finally find the peace between our people," Aro said.

"That will never happen. Not unless you die, Aro," Cam told him. Aro looked hurt but then smiled. "It won't be that easy. To become Queen, Vivien will need the approval of all the Generals, and they will never let a traitor like her rule. They'll never accept her when they find out that she's running with the Volturi."

"You see, Cam, I've already thought of that. I'll have to convince them, but when they find out that you and the rest of the family were killed by these leeches," she pointed to the Cullens, "and that I was the only survivor, thanks to the help of Aro and his brothers, they'll have to accept me as their Queen," Vivien explained.

"Like that? You think they'll forget all the lives they took, all the damaged they did to us?"

"Well, they are tired of this war, Camille. When they find out I was in danger and the Volturi came running to help me, we'll create an new union, and stop fighting against each other."

"You really think the Generals are stupid?"

"You know what? I'm tired of talking. Get her," Vivien ordered.

Suddenly, Camille was grabbed by Linus and Evan, and pushed towards her.

My body started to shake at the sight of Vivien touching Camille's face, my skin wanted to let the fur cover my body. In any moment I was going to let a very pissed off wolf rip some heads. I wasn't going to let those leeches or Camille's bitchy sister kill her, first they'll have to fight me.

I was breathing fast; my heart was beating fast, my whole body begging me to let the wolf out. I was only a moment away from changing from human to wolf, when I felt two freezing hands holding me by the shoulders tightly. I looked behind, to see a very relaxed Edward.

_What are you doing?_

"Leah, you need to relax. If you want your friend to live, then you need to stay human," he whispered. "Aro isn't sure if he wants to kill her, yet."

_Are you sure?_

Edward nodded. "He thinks she would be a valuable creature for his collection."

I looked back at the group of vampires who were surrounding Cam when Vivien shouted, "Kill her, Aro!"

"I'm sorry, darling. I'm afraid there has been a change in the plans. Camille will stay alive."

"What? You'd promised me she was going to die! You said you were going to kill her with your own hands!" Vivien cried.

"Well dear, I haven't been completely honest with you, Camille is a unique creature and I would be really stupid if I killed her."

"What about our plans, Aro? We made a pact that if I became Queen we were going to rule the two worlds together! If she stays alive that would never happen."

"I think you didn't understand correctly, darling. There has been a change of plans, and those changes don't include you anymore." Aro snapped his fingers, in a second five guards were holding Vivien, Linus and Evan, making them go down on their knees. "You may come out now, brothers." The bleached leech and the Emo leech came out from behind some bushes. "What do we do now?"

"Caius, Marcus," Camille whispered. Emo leech, Marcus, and Bleached, Caius, were looking at Camille. Their eyes full of hate.

"As I'd promised you once, a long time ago, you were going to see how your people died, Camille. Today you will finally see it with your own eyes. Today there will be three werewolves less in the world," Caius said and penetrated his sword through Linus' heart, while Marcus did the same to Evan. Caius then turned to Vivien. "Any last words, Vivien?"

"I-" She started, but couldn't finish because he penetrated his sword through her body.

"She wasn't fast enough." He shrugged. "Now, your turn, _Camille_," he spat her name.

"Isn't there any possibility that we could keep her alive, brother?" Aro interfered. "She could be a valuable member of our guard."

"Aro, you'd promised me that when we find her, she was going to die," Caius said.

"Aro, remember that she was the one who killed your sister, my wife," Marcus added.

"Okay, she will die, but allow me to do it, please," Aro asked and his brothers nodded.

Camille was pushed towards Aro, positioning her in front of him.

That was it! I started shaking again. I wasn't going to let them kill my friend in front of me. I wasn't letting them do it without a fight first.

Edward hold me again, this time tighter.

Why was he doing this? Why didn't he want me to phase? This was pissing me off even more. My shaking was stronger. If he didn't let go of me, Edward was going to be in the back of a huge wolf when I finally phase.

Edward let out a chuckle; he was picturing himself riding a wolf. Not funny in my opinion.

He kept his hold.

_Edward__, please let me go. She needs me. I can't let her die. _

Edward didn't lose his hold. He had managed to call Emmett to help him hold me. I looked at Edward, why was he doing this? How could he be so relaxed in a moment like this? Did he know something I didn't? He nodded, confirming that he knew something. Was Camille talking with him? He shook his head no. Then what was going on?

I looked back to Camille and the leeches. Aro had his head on her neck, Cammie had her eyes closed tightly. He was going to bite her, giving her the worst way of death. The venom acted the same way it did with us so it would kill her little by little; killing every part of her body in a slow motion, giving her a slow and painful death.

"Your last words, darling?" he whispered on her neck.

Cam opened her eyes and smiled looking my way. She opened her mouth and said, "Phase now!"

Edward and Emmett let me go, and I finally exploded into my wolf form. I also felt the phasing of my pack mates. Through the mind connection I could see how the guards surrounding us were fighting with people I hadn't seen in my life.

I didn't understand what was going on. It took me only a second to phase and there was a war going on already? It only took a second to our allies to attack and help us. It took them only a second to save Cammie.

_Quil, Seth, you'll __help the Cullens protecting Bella. We need her shield to protect us from those devil twin's powers. Embry and I will help Sam's pack with these smelly guards. _Jake instructions took me back from my reverie. _Any questions?_

_Jake__, what about me? _I asked him, but he ignored me.

I was standing in the middle of the fight with no idea what to do. I looked back to were the Royal leeches were. Aro and Marcus were surrounded by their personal guards. Caius was standing in front of them with his sword ready to start killing whoever went near them.

They were all looking my way, and most of them seemed to be nervous. I never thought I was that intimidating! But then I smell it, or should I say I smelt _him_. It was weird how my body reacted to him. It was like going back to my teenage years and feeling all nervous when the boy I liked was near me. I turned around and saw him. Nick was on our side! Kara and April were next to him. Noah was on the floor checking on Camille. Cammie! Was she okay?

"She's okay, Leah!" April with a warm smile answered to my worried expression. She hugged my fury neck me and whispered in my ear. "Noah is just making sure she can fight, we need her!"

I turned my gaze to Nick and our eyes met again. I loved looking his eyes, they were a sea blue color and I could always see myself beautiful in them. We were surrounded by a war. My pack mates and the La Push boys were helping some of Nick's wolves killing some leeches. Jasper and Emmett were fighting against some vamps too; Bella was being protected by Edward, Alice and Rose; and Carlisle was making a huge fire. But all I could pay attention was Nick. I hated how much power he had in me, but could you blame me? That guy was hot, and I was in love with him. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but stopped when Alex and Elliott appeared.

"It's time! The wolves and the Cullens have helped us kill some of the Volturi guards. They are still a lot, so we need to attack the Kings now, Nick," Alex said.

"Okay. This is what we are going to do. Alex, Kara, you two will be leading. Elliott, Noah, you two will protect our backs. Cam, April, and I we'll protect the sides. Leah…" he whispered my name. He cleared his throat and continued, "Leah, you will go in the middle. We'll make a wall protecting every side of you, so you don't need to worry about anything, okay?"

What? I felt like an idiot. I didn't understand what he was talking about. They were all positioning around me.

"Leah, remember the days we've spent running in the woods? Well, all you have to do is run as fast as you can. We'll make sure no one gets you. All you have to do is run to Aro; we'll separate him from his personal guard. When he's alone, and you have him in front of you, ki- keep him alive. Understood?"

He wanted me to run and jump on Aro? Only that?

"Ready? Cammie, you sure you can?" They all nodded. Nick turned to me and whispered, "I'll be all the time next to you. There's nothing to be afraid of, okay? Are you ready? Run, Leah!"

It was like when we were running in the woods, except this time psycho leeches were jumping to us whenever we pass by them. As Nick promised, the hotties created a wall around me. Kara and Alex who were running in front of me had already killed some leeches. I remembered that Cammie mentioned that Alex and Kara were the best fighters, but damn! These guys were good!

We were approaching the royals, but that only meant more guards to kill, and that was bad, very bad, because the 'wall' surrounding me was starting to break. I had already lost my left side protection, where Cammie and April had been a moment ago. They were fighting some leeches far from where we were.

Alex and Kara stayed in front of me, killing more guards. I looked ahead of us to where Aro was standing, next to him was his brother Marcus. He had only the twins, a woman who was touching his arm and two guards I'd never seen before protecting him. The two newbie guards ran to attack us, making Alex and Kara separate from my position. That only left Nick and Elliott protecting me, but soon it was no one next to me when the two werewolves ran and started fighting with Caius and the twins.

The bleached vampire seemed to be having an amazing time. I was sure that if he weren't using that old-fashioned cloak he would be wearing a 'I hate werewolves' T-shirt.

Nick was fighting with Caius and Elliott was fighting with the twins. The little she-devil couldn't use her power against us, but she knew how to fight very well, and she proved it when she punched Elliott in the face sending him through the air, making him crush against a tree, her brother was watching with a grin in his face. It was surprising how the guards were good fighters. I thought they were only important because of their gifts, but I could see that they had been trained to fight too.

I looked back in front of me. Aro was next to Marcus and the chick whose gift was to work as a shield. I remembered that when we were preparing for the non-war when the Volturis came to kill Renesmee, the Cullens informed us of all the powers the Volturi guard members had and the importance of their gifts. The shield-chick's power only worked if she got focused in the attackers. That was a problem, because if I needed to jump on the boss, I needed that chick to be gone. How was I going to kill her if she was going to use her gift and never let me near her?

_Need any help, Leah?_Jake's voice popped in my mind. I had completely forgotten about the guys. Where they all okay? _No need to worry, Beta. We are all fine. Now, we need to make the chick use her power on one of us. I would say you go and make her use it on you, but that would be very ungentlemanly. This is what we'll do. I'll try to attack her, she uses her power on me, and you jump on her and kill her. Got it?_

I nodded. This guy was a natural Alpha fighter.

Jake run towards the chick, and I follow shortly after. The girl focused on him, and used her power making Jake fly through the air. I was ready to jump on her when an invisible wall crashed into me.

"Leah, are you, okay?" Cammie's worried voice made me open my eyes.

My face hurt. It was like if I was running fast and suddenly crashed into a wall.

Now that I thought of it, the Shield's power worked when she was touching the person she needed to protect, so I didn't need her to focus on someone else, I needed to separate her from Aro.

"I think you need a bit of help here," Cam said. She looked intently to the Shield-Chick's eyes. Oh, I see what this was going to! She was going to hypnotize her, and then I'll have a free way to Aro.

Cammie succeeded, and made the chick separate from Aro. He was terrified when she left his side and turned around to run away.

"Leah, catch him," Nick shouted, he had Caius on the floor defeated.

I ran after the leech and jump on him, making him scream when he fell to the floor. His smell was very strong, and when I lock eyes with him, something in me was changing. At the sight of his red eyes, I started getting angry. The thought of all the human lives he took was making the wolf want to control the human in me. My pack mates' thoughts and the growls from the Cullens weren't helping much. Through my pack brother's minds I could taste the anger, the pain of the losses, and the need of tasting the bloodsuckers' flesh against our teeth. The wolf in me was starting to take control of every muscle of my body. All I wanted to do was to rip of his head off, then his arms, his legs...

"Leah, if we want this war to be finally over, he needs to tell the truth. And we are not the ones who will judge him. We need him alive."

_W__e need him alive._ Nick's words echoed in my head.

It was very difficult not ripping this leech's head off, but they were right, he had to finally tell the truth and let everyone know what a son of a leech he was. I let go of him, and positioned myself next to Camille who walked towards Aro and me. Nick helped Aro stood up and held him just in case the leech decided to escape. Emmett, Jasper, and Alex were holding the two other brothers, who were now facing Aro.

"I'm not in the mood for a long talk, so be quick and tell your brothers the truth of what happened to Didyme," Nick said.

Aro shook his head.

"Tell them the truth or I swear I'll start ripping parts of your body right now!" Nick growled. "Tell them," he ordered using his gift.

"I was the one who killed her!" Aro cried. "It wasn't Camille. I did it! I couldn't let her go and tell you what I've done," he said looking at Marcus and Caius.

"What are you talking about, Aro?" Marcus asked.

"I'm talking about Didyme's death, brother. It was me! I killed her!"

"No! It was her, Aro! You told us it was her!" Caius shouted, pointing at Cam.

"I lied, the same way I lied about her lover too!"

Caius and Marcus asked Jasper, Emmett and Alex to let them go, and they did. They walked towards Aro.

"You are no longer part of this family, Aro," Marcus said.

And Caius finished, "You not only created this war, but you also lied to us. Your punishment will be…"

"Death," Marcus sentenced.

Caius took a step to Aro and ripped his head off and threw it to the fire. "Camille, I think we need to-"

"To see if there's anyone hurt that needs help. Later we'll speak about everything," Cammie said.

The two vampires nodded and walked next to her to look for injured wolves and vampires.

I walked behind them. I needed to check out on Seth, and the pack guys, and also counting all the losses. It was sad knowing that in wars not everyone survived.

Camille stopped and kneeled next to Noah who was checking on someone. Then I saw it. Lying in the floor there were 5 bodies of people I knew. They were dead by the look Cammie and Noah gave me.

We had lost 5 fighters… 5 friends…

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I know you are sad to hear some people died, but there are always deaths in wars. Any guesses who they are? I will give 2 names to all my lovely readers!

**IMPORTANT!** There's a new one-shot challenge in http:/ fanfiction-challenges . blogspot . com/ This time the theme will be about Alice not being a shopaholic and hyper as she's portrayed in most of the stories. You have the chance to write about her human life, or when she met Jasper; anything you can think of, except her being worried about the latest trends. Deadline: Friday June 11th - Friday July 9th. Check http:/ fanfiction-challenges . blogspot . com/ for more information.


	31. Chapter 30

**READ! I ****deleted**** some chapters (the author's note one, plus I made 3 chaps. from the beginning only one chapter), and now all the people that reviewed from chapters 30 to 34 won't be allowed to leave a signed review because it would say you've already reviewed that chapter. So if you want to leave a review leave it anonymous (write your penname) and I'll PM you the sneak peak and answer your questions there OR review another chapter. Thanks!**

**3 quick things!**

**1****st****: Sorry for taking so long in updating and I hope you don't hate me after you see who died. I actually cried when I was writing this chapter. I've already warned all the amazing reviewers who the dead people were so I'm not responsible of any heart attack or anything. :)**

**2****nd****: I wanted to dedicate this chapter to all the readers, but especially to Catarina who's being amazing in Twitter encouraging me to write every day. Obrigado! ;) **

**3****rd****: All the anonymous reviewers, thanks so much for the reviews! I'm on Twitter now (dntcallmeLeeLee) so if you have an account I'll be able to answer to your reviews, answer your questions and give you a sneak peak of the new chapter there :)**

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**Chapter 3****0: **

It'd been only three days since we fought against the Volturi. The war was finally over. Aro was dead, and so were five fighters we'd remember forever.

That day, during the morning, we had a small funeral in La Push where the two young bodies were buried.

It felt so strange that they were gone, so weird. I knew them since they were little boys. I remembered babysitting Caden when he was in diapers and he didn't even talk or when Brady ran naked in my backyard, trying to escape from his mother when she was going to bath him.

_Caden and Brady, rest in peace._

Caden was one of the new puppies in Sam's pack. He was only 11 years old. He wasn't even supposed to phase, but he did it when the non-war happened a year ago. He was new to this entire supernatural world. He wasn't even supposed to be in the fight. Sam tried to keep all the new guys as far away as possible from fighting, but the new puppies, feeling honored for becoming wolves decided to join us in the battle and now one of them was dead.

Brady was also one of the last boys that phased, not so new in this like Caden was but still he was a newbie. He phased after Seth and I did. He was only 13. I knew him a bit more because we shared a few days together in Sam's pack before I decided to join Jacob's group of rebels. Brady was a jerk, yeah, no kidding there. But who wasn't a jerk as a teen? And the fact that he spent too much time with jackasses like Paul or Jared didn't make any good rather than make his assholeness bigger and bigger. He loved being a wolf. Colin told us that Brady saved him from being bitten by one of the leeches in his last battle. That made him a hero in all our eyes.

They were both so young and still they were as brave as any of the older guys in the pack. They had their whole lives ahead of them, but I was sure they died happy, knowing they helped their people. They loved being wolves and they were honored by being chosen for such an important mission as ours.

That same night, I attended to another funeral at the hotties' new home. Caden and Brady weren't the only ones who died in the battle. We'd also lost 3 members on the werewolves' side, two of the hotties and a queen. The ceremony was so much different than the sad one we had at La Push. This one was a party rather than a funeral. There was food and music. Everybody seemed to be celebrating their deaths.

"That's what they would have chosen, Leah," Cammie told me when I arrived. "Aunt Tianna loved people to be happy, Kara loved parties, and Elliott, well, he must have been happy seeing all these girls celebrating something about him."

"But they are dead," I said.

"I know, but they are here with us. Can't you feel them? We need to be happy they are in a better place now," she said.

I wasn't sure if it was because I was drunk for all the shots we took for Kara, Tianna and Elliott or if it was because I was crazy, but I swear it felt like they were here with us.

It was still hard to understand how the werewolves and fairies celebrated death though. I remembered spending nights secretly crying when dad had died and April whose mother was gone three days ago was dancing like if nothing happened. Cammie whose best friend, Kara, died, was laughing on the other side of the room with King Oberon. And… okay, there wasn't anyone who had a special bond with Elliott, but everyone seemed to be like enjoying they were gone?

"Remember that we're already dead in some kind of way," a male voice whispered behind me. "This is our way to say goodbye to them. We are celebrating their spirits are going to a better life. Tomorrow we'll be mourning them," Nick said, standing next to me.

We looked at each other for a long time without saying anything. We hadn't spoken in these past three days since the war was over and it was like we were looking at each other for the first time again, this time without glaring or hating each other.

He sighed and looked away for a moment. He turned back to me, intertwined our hands and pulled me outside, to the solitary garden. He let my hand free when we were outside and he looked at me intensely.

"What?' I questioned him, raising my eyebrows. Nick looked at me another moment before speaking.

"Nothing. It's just that..." Nick said, trailing off.

"What?" I asked him. He leaned a little closer to me. My heart started thumping at top speed and I felt like I was going to pass out. I could smell Nick, and he smelled good. Really good.

"You have something on your face," he said. I was about to slap my hand up to my face and pick it off but Nick was already doing it for me.

His hand and fingers were so soft, like silk. I couldn't breathe as his hand came in contact with my cheek. He looked into my eyes as he picked off the item on my cheek, and I stared right back into his blue eyes. They sparkled as the moon light shined down into his face.

Damn him for what he was doing to me!

"I'm sorry," he whispered, leaning his forehead against mine. "I should have listened to my heart instead of my brain. I feel like an idiot now. I should be begging for your forgiveness but I'm really bad at it, so I'll do this instead."

He took my face with both hands and leaned closer and closer until our lips were moving together, kissing each other passionately.

I really wanted this, I needed it. But hell no! He was going to work harder if he wanted me back. I pulled back from the kiss. He looked confused for a moment.

This time I was the one in charge and there was nothing he could possibly do to make me change my mind.

He leaned closer and kissed me again. Okay, maybe there was one thing that could make me change my mind. Damn him and his good kissing skills!

I wrapped my hand around his neck and deepen the kiss. This guy was going to be the death of me, especially when he was such an amazing kisser…

I needed to be strong. I wasn't going to be fooled this time, no sir. This time I needed to make him pay for all these weeks I was considered as a traitor. I pulled back again, this time harshly. I really needed to show him he wasn't going to win that easily. Although his kisses were fucking amazing, this time wasn't going to be simple for him. He would need to try harder.

"Don't you dare kiss me again, Nick," I said harshly. "Or I'll bite you."

He smiled and step closer to me. "You know, you sure are like one of those," he said quietly as his arms wrapped around my back.

"Like what?" I asked as I tried pushing him away but he was holding me tightly against his body.

"The stars," he whispered and kissed my head. "You got that glow all about you especially when you are mad. Like right now. You just seem so bright, like the stars."

No one had ever said something like that to me, ever... I wasn't falling for that! Oh no! Not even if he said it in that sexy way. Hell no!

"Leah, I'm sorry." He sighed. "Leah, let's forget about the past. Let's start again," he breathed, his face getting closer to mine.

"No, Nick," I said.

"Leah, I love you, and I know you feel the same. I made a mistake, okay? What else do you want from me, babe?" Nick impatient took my hands and wrapped them around his waist. "I want to be with you."

"Nick," I said moving my hands over his masculine hips trying to push him away.

"Don't do that, babe," he said while he hugged me tightly against him.

"Okay," I whispered. I looked him in the eyes, and next thing I kneed him in the balls.

I wanted him to suffer, maybe that wasn't the pain I wanted him to go through, but that was the only way to make him let go of me.

He was lying on the floor and I took the opportunity to walk back to the room, but I wasn't quick enough. Suddenly Nick got up and ran my way, hugged me tightly and kissed me again.

I tried pushing him away for a couple of seconds, but soon after I gave up when his tongue started to play against my lips, and I surrendered to the kiss.

Damn him! Damn him! Damn him!

"Nick, look who's here… Oh, I'm sorry," a male voice said behind me.

Nick growled and we broke the kiss. He looked intensely at me for a moment before turning to the person behind me. It was King Oberon and next to him there was a tall, black man.

"It's okay, Grandpa," Nick said. He looked at the man next to the old man and smiled. "You are here, Gamel!" He walked to him and hugged him.

"Sorry for not being here before, Nick. I would have enjoyed killing some leeches," he growled.

"It's over now," Nick said as he put his hand over his shoulder.

"I know. Um, well, I was going to tell you that I might have an idea to were to find the others, but maybe we should talk later, I see you're kinda busy here," Gamel said.

"Okay…" Nick started saying but I cut him off.

"Oh no! You aren't interrupting anything. In fact we had just finished talking all we had to talk, right Nick?" I looked at him and walked away, heading to the house.

"Leah," he called me. "Leah, please."

He needed to try harder. I ignored him and walked back to the party. If he was really interested in solving things, he would come back to try solve them…

He didn't. It'd been almost a week, and he didn't bother coming to look for me. In fact I didn't know where he was because I hadn't seen him at all. What the hell was wrong with this guy? And why the hell was I looking outside the window like he would walk towards my house trying to win me back?

I phased and ran to their new home. I needed to know if he was back or not. After Aro burned their previous house with no one being killed, thanks to Candra who decided to switch sides when Vivien decided to join the Volturi, the hotties moved into a new place near La Push.

I became a regular visitor at the hotties' place although these past days there wasn't a cheerful atmosphere as there was before. As Nick told me it would happen, the day after the funeral everybody was sad and mourning Queen Tianna, Kara and Elliott.

I walked pass the huge desolated corridors of the mansion to the garden where I was told Camille was.

In the garden, I saw Camille hugging a sparkling Caius. It was so weird looking at him sparkling. Edward sparkling was one thing, but watching the royal one sparkling was weird. He even looked defenseless.

They must have smelled me because they both turned their heads in my direction and looked at me. Caius whispered something into Cammie's ear and she smiled.

"I'll let you speak alone… I'll talk to you later, Cammie," he said, smiling and bowed his head to us and walked into the house when I approached them. If I thought watching him sparkle was weird, watching him smiled was _awkward_.

"Let's go for a walk, Lee." She took my arm and chained it to hers, taking me out of my trance.

We walked in silence for a while, enjoying the sun their home had.

"How are you doing, Lee?"

"I'm fine, I guess. You?"

"I'm fine, I guess." She smirked. "You here to see _him_, right?" She said smirking again. Seriously, what was with this family and smirks?

"See who? Nick? Pft, no."

"Okay… Not that you could see him. He's been out since the funeral."

She looked at me like waiting for me to say: "Tell me more, please." Like I cared!

"He left with Gamel, the man who was here the other day. He's one of the Generals. In fact he'd been the ruler of the African packs since my father was named King," she said. "Nick and Gamel left to try to find the rest of our brothers and sisters. Gamel told us he heard there were some packs over South America."

Still not interested!

"I'm sure I'm boring you with all this and that you don't care, but Nick is becoming King soon… Do you know what are you going to do? Are you going to forgive him or not?"

I stayed silent. I didn't want to tell Camille that I wanted her brother to suffer a little bit.

"You know what, that's not of my business, I'm gonna love you both whatever you decide to do about your relationship," she said.

"So how are you doing with the… deaths?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"I'm dealing fine with it. We all are. I thought the only one that wasn't going to be so well was going to be April, but lately she's been smiling too much. I think your brother is helping her cheer up a bit." She smiled but the smiled didn't get to her eyes.

She was right, April was sad the day after the funeral. She was sitting or listening to something and all of a sudden she started crying. My brother who came to visit with me, seeing as April was so sad became her constant companion making jokes and making her laugh, but I guess that wasn't enough to cheer her up, until a couple of days ago I caught them making out in her room.

"You can't imagine how much…"

Silence again.

"So you and Caius, eh?"

"What? No," she shouted. "No."

"What was the hug for then? You forgave him?" I asked.

"Yes."

"After all he did to you, you forgave him? That easily?"

"Yes. Trust me that I would have loved to make him pay for not listening, for believing the lies Aro told him, for killing my father, for killing our people…" She sighed. "But what would I win if I continue this and decided to make him pay? Would that bring my Aunt back? Elliott? Kara?"

"At least you'll feel a lot better taking revenge on him," I said, shrugging when she looked at me.

"That's what you're doing with Nick." She didn't ask, she stated it.

"Nick? What does he have to do with this?"

"Nothing and everything. I know I said this wasn't my business, but I thought you hadn't forgiven him because you weren't sure about what you felt…" She sighed. "Look Leah, I love you, I consider you a sister and I won't interfere in your life, but let me tell you one last thing," she said, looking me in the eye. "I wanted to take my revenge since the day Caius killed my father and tried killing me, I'd planned thousands of ways of killing him, but after a decade or two, I realized that if I took my revenge all I would be bringing is another war, and I'm tired of fighting."

"He didn't trust me," I said.

"None of trusted you, so why aren't you mad at me too?" She asked. "You forgave me, so why can't you forgive him too?"

She had a point there. Maybe I was being unfair… but he had to suffer. What the hell? I was fucking suffering too! Damn him, for making me feel this way!

"Leah, we all deserve second chances. Look at me, I thought I wasn't going to find love again, and here I am, asking Caius for tips to know when a man likes a woman," she said.

"Who's the lucky guy?" I asked, trying to focus on something that wasn't Nick.

"Alex."

It was about time she realized that!

"Since when?"

"Since I saw that someone almost killed him in the war," she said.

"Does he know?" I asked her.

"No."

"What are you waiting to tell him?"

"Are you kidding me? I won't tell him. What about you?"

"What about what?"

"You and Nick? Are you going to forgive him?"

"Cammie, we are talking about you now, so don't go changing the subject. You and Al-"

Someone clearing their throat behind us; Cam and I turned around and there was Alex, standing with a gigantic grin he tried to hide. I was sure he heard what we were talking about because his eyes looked happy.

"Can I speak with you, Cam?" he asked.

Cam glared at me, and then she nodded to Alex.

"Cam, Nick is back with the Generals, he wanted to talk to you about something before the meeting."

"Okay. I'll go to see what he wants," she said, she started to walk away but was stopped when Alex caught her hand and whispered in her ear, "We need to talk later."

They looked at each other lovingly for a moment until they realized they weren't alone and Cammie left.

Alex followed her with his eyes until she entered the house, then he turned to me with a huge smile on his face. "Jacob was looking for you, Leah," he said.

"The pack's here? What do they want?"

"Not only your pack brothers, but also the other pack is here too, Leah. The Cullens are here too. Nick wants all of you at the meeting, so everyone's present when the Generals name him King," he said. "I'm sure he'd like to make some treat with the packs and the Cullens, like he'll do with the Volturi. Come on let's go!"

We walked inside the mansion. The desolated corridors I found when I arrived earlier that day were now full of werewolves running to the huge room that was in east wing of the house.

The room was full of chairs facing the big windows. It looked like a court. Some chairs were already taken. The packs were already there, some werewolves I'd never seen before, the Cullens, some of the Volturi. I had a quick look around until my eyes found him. Nick was standing in front of the window, his back facing me, he was looking outside the window to the beautiful garden the house had.

He must have sensed he was being watched because he turned around and our eyes locked. The rest of the room seemed to have disappeared. His beautiful eyes looked at me longingly.

Our trance was interrupted when someone pushed me down, slightly making me sit on a chair.

"Hey!" I complained, looking to no other than Cammie. Was it my imagination or was she paler?

"Sorry, Leah," Camille said. "The meeting was starting and you were standing there looking at Nick like an idiot."

"Are you okay? You look sick," I asked her.

"Silence, please," Gamel shouted, making everyone shut up. "You might all be wondering what you are doing here. As you all know, vampires and werewolves had been fighting for centuries. Today we can finally say the war is over and there's no more danger for us. A new era is beginning and with it a new King must be elected." He continued. "It is a tradition that the son of the last King becomes the new ruler, but first the Generals must decide if he is worth the crown." He walked towards the first row of chairs where the other four Generals were sitting.

People around us started talking between each other, murmuring if the Generals would accept Nick or not.

I looked at Nick. He seemed to be nervous. Right now I would have liked being there next to him and… no, no, no! I didn't have any more feelings for him. He had to suffer as much as I suffered… For God's sake! Who was I kidding? Nick was hot. We were talking about the sexiest man alive… or undead in this case. Being away from him only made me miserable. I needed him, and after this meeting was over, I was going to jump on him and-

"Nicholas, we all agree on you becoming the new King," Gamel's voice was heard in all the room. "But before being crowned, you'll have to marry… a werewolf."

Said what? He had to marry… a werewolf?

* * *

**I completely forgot to dedicate this to Full of Hope. I would have never imagined my story would cheer your cousin. I really hope she gets well soon. My best wishes to her. And I'll try hard to update this soon so ****she doesn't bug you much ;) Lol**

**There's a new contest in FWC: ****Bloodthirsty Belles and Sinful Senoritas****. This contest is all about girl power. We want to know what happened in the Vampire Wars of the South as well as some AU scenarios with our Twilight characters.**


	32. Author's note

Yes, I'll let you all kill me after this author's note…lol.

I know you've all been waiting for the new chapter to be posted for a long time, and I want to apologize for that, but I've been with so much going on in real life that I barely had time to breath. My lack of time and inspiration has been basically the main reason why I haven't posted in so long.

Recently, I've found two amazing betas (beautiful .nightmare.x and BelleDean) who have been helping me so much with the story, and one of them suggested me this great idea for the next chapter I love so much that I'm already planning it all, so the next chapter will be coming soon.

Okay, with all this said, he reason of this a/n was to wish you all a **Happy New Year** and a good start of the new decade. Talk to you next year!

Love,

~Stella. :)

Ps. To all the anonymous reviewers, let me know how to contact you so I can send you the sneak peak when I have it.


	33. Authors note

Yes, I'll let you all kill me after this author's note…lol.

I know you've all been waiting for the new chapter to be posted for a long time, and I want to apologize for that, but I've been with so much going on in real life that I barely had time to breath. My lack of time and inspiration has been basically the main reason why I haven't posted in so long.

Recently, I've found two amazing betas (beautiful .nightmare.x and BelleDean) who have been helping me so much with the story, and one of them suggested me this great idea for the next chapter I love so much that I'm already planning it all, so the next chapter will be coming soon.

Okay, with all this said, he reason of this a/n was to wish you all a **Happy New Year** and a good start of the new decade. Talk to you next year!

Love,

~Stella. :)

Ps. To all the anonymous reviewers, let me know how to contact you so I can send you the sneak peak when I have it.


	34. Important AN

Check in…check in… 1, 2, 3.

Okay, if you see this, then the way to post has been successful. :) You might all be thinking: 'What the hell is she talking about?' 'What did she smoke?' Well, some of you might know that since Saturday, there've been some difficulties posting in FFnet. If you go and try making a post in your stories, you'll see that an error message shows up. If you're an author and you need to post, do not panic, there's a trick to do it. Contact me and I'll show you how to do it.

I'll take the chance to tell you that a couple of days ago, I started a blog. Apparently alerts aren't working either, so I'll be posting my updating status about TTSotM over there. I'm hoping the problem would be solved by the time I update, but in any case have a look at the blog for news of when I'll be posting. Link: h t t p : / / thetwosidesofdontcallmeleelee . blogspot . com/?zx=348ca37bb8c2ba63 (delete the spaces). You can also find the link on my profile.

Special message for **Natalia Skye**: Honey, you wrote your email in one of your reviews, but FFnet doesn't aloud links or emails, so could you send it to me again, please? This time write it separating the words, like this: example(at)mail(dot)com. Or if you have any other way of contacting you, please let me know. I would like to send you the sneak peak somewhere. :)

And the last thing, welcome to all the new readers, if you have any questions or doubts, do not hesitate contacting me whenever you feel like it. And to the old readers, thanks so much for your support and for being so patient with me. I love you all for that!

Kisses and hugs,

~Stella.

Ps. I've almost finished writing the next chapter, so it'll be coming very, very soon.


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